Podcast Segments:
Iowa Coast to Coast (statewide news)
From Laura Belin in Bleeding Heartland: The last time Donald Trump was president, Iowa Democrats had a pretty good midterm election. The party’s candidates defeated two Republican members of Congress, came surprisingly close to beating U.S. Representative Steve King, had a net gain of five Iowa House seats (and almost a sixth), and came within 3 points of winning the governor’s race. Many Democrats like their chances of improving on that tally in 2026. But before they get too excited, they need to understand the terrain is now much more favorable to Iowa Republicans than it was during the 2018 election cycle. A huge GOP voter registration advantage, combined with consistently higher turnout for Republicans in midterm years, make it hard to construct a winning scenario for Democrats in Iowa’s 2026 statewide elections. To overcome those long odds, Democrats will need not only strong GOTV and good messaging, but also a better voter registration effort over the coming year than the party has seen in decades.
From Randy Evans in Bleeding Heartland: People living in central Iowa received a wake-up call last week that should drag water quality back in front of the state’s 3.2 million residents. Iowa’s largest water supplier, which serves a fifth of the state’s homes and businesses, ordered its 600,000 customers to immediately reduce water demand by ending lawn-watering and cutting use in other ways. This is not just a Des Moines area problem. This is an all-of-Iowa problem. While fertilizing lawns and golf courses in urban areas contributes to the nitrate problem, excess application of commercial nitrogen fertilizer and manure on farm ground is by far the primary reason for elevated levels of nitrates. This focus on nitrates in drinking water is not some arcane concern motivated by fans of lush lawns. The heart of the issue is public health. Nitrates are of special concern for infants under 6 months of age and pregnant women. Studies also suggest even nitrate levels below the federal safe-drinking-water standard could contribute to an increase in colon and rectal cancers, thyroid disease and some birth defects.
Cauc Talk (political news)
From The New Republic: Will Iowa Senator Joni Enst call it quits after her humiliating defense of Donald Trump’s budget bill? Several Republican aides, consultants, and strategists told The Wall Street Journal that there was widespread speculation Ernst would not seek another term in the Senate. At a disastrous town hall in late May, Ernst was discussing the Trump-backed “one big beautiful bill,” which will kick an estimated 5.4 million people off of Medicaid. A constituent cried out, “People will die!” “Well, we all are going to die,” Ernst shot back. As it turns out, Iowans didn’t appreciate the Republican senator getting existential, and now the embattled senator has delayed her annual “Roast and Ride” fundraiser until October. Typically, Ernst—who has been in office since 2015—holds the event in June. Ernst’s “political ascent within the GOP has stalled,” the Journal reported. But for now, it’s all just speculation. Earlier this month, Ernst brought on Bryan Kraber to manage her 2026 reelection campaign, signaling her intent to turn her sinking ship around.
From Wilderness.org: The Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee budget reconciliation bill text released June 11, and updated June 14, includes a range of extraordinary giveaways aimed at privatizing public lands and advancing energy dominance at the expense of public lands and resources. The bill forces the arbitrary sale of at least 2 million acres of Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands in 11 Western states over the next five years, and it gives the secretaries of the interior and agriculture broad discretion to choose which places should be sold off. Public lands eligible for sale in the bill encompass over 250 million acres, including local recreation areas, wilderness study areas, inventoried roadless areas, critical wildlife habitat and big game migration corridors. The bill directs what is likely the largest single sale of national public lands in modern history to help cut taxes for the richest people in the country. It trades ordinary Americans’ access to outdoor recreation for a short-term payoff that disproportionately benefits the privileged and well-connected.
A.Iowa
From the CR Gazette: As the use of artificial intelligence expands into new aspects of society, a new use was found in at least one high-profile place in Iowa this year: the Iowa State Capitol Building. During this year’s session, the Iowa House of Representatives and the governor’s office used an Iowa-based AI-native program to help streamline the legislative process for evaluating and tracking bills, a first for the state. Iowa is one of the first states to use AI in the legislative process, alongside California and Utah. A slate of other states are considering adopting similar programs. The program, Legible, was created by Zack Krawiec and Kasey Clary, founders of the technology company Upvote. Krawiec and Clary met as pages in the Iowa Legislature in 2014 before clerking for House lawmakers, where they saw how policy was crafted. According to a 2024 survey, 20 percent of surveyed legislative staffers and workers said they are currently using AI, while 42 percent said their offices are considering using it. Clark added that while the use of AI in state capitols is growing, most opinion still is mixed on adopting the technology. “Legislatures are open to using these new tools, but I think they really want some assurances, especially with confidentiality, privacy, and then making sure, again, that any kind of protections are in contracts,” Clark said. “They're waiting for maybe a kind of stasis moment where a little more is known about these tools, about how they're used in the institution, and then they can craft policies based on that.”
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