DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Media Iowa Capitol Bureau) – Friday the long-running Des Moines Register Political Soapbox speeches started at the Iowa State Fair.

Iowa Congressman Zach Nunn is the first to take the stage this year and he’s the only Republican speaking.

Nunn’s speech centered on a range of issues voters say is important to them, and he laid out his “ABCs” that he says Washington needs to learn.

“A being first of all, America First Policy. One that really puts our priorities at the top of the line,” he said.

“B” is for the Border, which Nunn says is the most common issue he hears about when in the District. “We need to be able to protect our nation. That begins with border security. It’s the number one thing I hear about when I got to all 21 counties across the 3rd District,” Nunn said.

“C” stood for community. Nunn referenced his work in the Iowa Legislature to pass tax cuts and said Congress needed to stop spending more than it brings in.

Nunn skipped over “D”, but Economy was next up. Nunn says he’s cut taxes and spending in Congress.

Nunn also touted his bipartisan work and took pride in being named among the top 10 most bipartisan members of Congress.

Nunn didn’t go into much specific detail on his plans should Central Iowa voters send him back to Congress.

Social Security reserves will run out in 11 years if Congress doesn’t act. That means recipients would only get 83% of their full benefits. 50% of seniors get half of their monthly income from Social Security. One in four seniors rely on Social Security for 90% of their monthly income. Nunn said, “We want to make sure that Social Security and Medicare is 100% guaranteed because the folks who’ve paid into it have earned it and they deserve to be able to keep that.”

Nunn also called on the federal government to reduce spending. “We cannot have a situation where the federal government continues to spend more than it actually brings in,” Nunn said.

Nunn says his commitment to the community is that, “We want to make sure that we keep fighting for Iowa in a good way that helps lower taxes and allows you to reinvest in your economy.”

Nunn says he wants to make sure good communities have the opportunity to grow. “Having a secure border, fighting crime, tamping down on human trafficking, and the deadly fentanyl scourge that’s been fighting our area,” Nunn said.

Nunn didn’t take any questions from the audience while on the soapbox.

The number of registered Republicans slightly outnumbers the registered Democrats in the district, however it’s still expected to be a competitive race in the fall. On Monday, Nunn’s Democratic challenger Lanon Baccam will take this same stage and give his speech.

The schedule for speakers at the Iowa State Fair can be found by clicking here.

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Conner Hendricks covers state government and politics for Gray Media-owned stations in Iowa. Email him at conner.hendricks@gray.tv; and follow him on Facebook at Conner Hendricks TV or on X/Twitter @ConnerReports.

Copyright 2024 KCRG. All rights reserved.

The College Football Playoff format is expanding to 12 teams for the 2024 season, up from four teams in past years.

Iowa football head coach Kirk Ferentz on Friday was asked about this significant change during his press conference at Hawkeyes media day, and he praised the move for how it will allow more teams, and potentially Iowa, to avoid being “irrelevant” come the postseason.

“I guess the goals change a little bit because now, you know, playoffs are a little bit more doable, if you will … ” Ferentz said. “I will say this about the playoffs — I am excited about them. Excited is a strong word, but I’m happy about it. I thought it was not good, not necessarily healthy, for college football to go to four (teams), and last year is a good example.

“We’re all arguing about who’s four, who’s five. Used to be arguing about two and three … I guess my problem with what we’ve been doing is whenever that stupid show comes on in October, the playoffs show, if you’re not in that top-10 discussion, then you’re irrelevant. And I just think we missed the boat in college football, me personally. And so at least now, I assume when that show comes on, they’ll talk about 20 teams instead of 10 teams, and that’s good. That’s healthy. And I think the more teams they talk about, the better, because there’s so many good stories across the country.

“So that was my problem (four-team format), and I guess we’re gonna go to, what, 14 or 16 next? So if we’re gonna open up it up, might as well open it up … But if we get the chance to play them, nobody’s gonna complain. I promise you.”

More: Iowa football: What coach Kirk Ferentz said in his press conference during media day

The College Football Playoff was created after the 2014 season and has featured four teams over the last nine years.

Iowa has never made the playoff, with its closest finish coming in 2015 as the Hawkeyes ended the season ranked No. 5 in the country.

Gus Martin is a Digital Producer/Content Director for The Des Moines Register. Follow him on X at @GusMartin_DMR.

Opponents of same-sex marriage waged ideological warfare against the courts in 2010. This time, Kim Reynolds, lawmakers and justices are responsible for the ideological warfare.

• Rekha Basu is a longtime syndicated columnist, editorial writer, reporter and author of the book, “Finding Your Voice.”
• She retired in 2022 as a Des Moines Register columnist.

Fifteen years ago, a group of evangelical political activists, furious over the Iowa Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling for same-sex marriage, plotted revenge. Led by Bob Vander Plaats of the The Family Leader, they formed the ironically named “Iowans for Freedom.”

Funded partly by out-of-state money, it campaigned against three of the Supreme Court justices who happened to be up for retention elections in 2010. And it succeeded in unseating three fine ones: Chief Justice Marsha Ternus and Justices Michael Streit and David Baker.

Fast forward to this year, when a reconstituted Iowa Supreme Court, a majority hand-picked by Iowa’s anti-abortion Gov. Kim Reynolds, turns back the clock 50 years with a 4-3 ruling effectively outlawing abortions after six weeks into a pregnancy. In doing so, the justices overturned precedent that had withstood previous Supreme Court challenges, deciding that abortion laws should not be assessed under the strict-scrutiny standard previously invoked.

And now, in response, some women are taking a cue from what Iowans for Freedom accomplished in 2010. They’re encouraging others to turn the page on the November ballot — literally — to the side where judicial retention votes are, and vote against Justice David May. He’s the only one who voted for the six-week ban who’s up this year.

So, how could anyone who opposed the 2010 campaign support the same tactic? Comparisons between the two efforts get complicated. Retention elections used to be mostly pro forma shows of support for sitting judges appointed on a nonpartisan basis, who were doing their jobs properly. In 2010, same-sex marriage opponents couldn’t accept that their religious-based agenda had lost in a court of law bound by the Iowa Constitution. So it used the elections to wage ideological warfare. 

This time the ideological warfare has been waged by the governor, state lawmakers and the court’s new majority, by tampering with the once nonpartisan, constitutionally based process. Reynolds, an outspoken abortion opponent, called a special one-day session of the Legislature last summer to vote on the ban. Six weeks is before most women even know if they’re pregnant. Iowa’s Republican-led Legislature complied by passing it, though a nearly identical 2018 law had been permanently blocked. Reynolds had over the years appointed four new justices, including May, who could reliably be predicted to vote as they did.

More: Kim Reynolds picked this Legislature, and it steamrolled an extreme path for Iowa

The victims now will be untold numbers of pregnant women and girls, and children born to people ill-equipped to care for them.

“The ideological bias of this court does not reflect the will of most Iowans, and I’m not sure how far it follows the constitution,” said Des Moines’ Lea DeLong, the reproductive rights advocate who penned a letter making the case for opposing May’s retention. “My reading of the constitution is that it is intended to expand the rights and liberties of people.”

Her letter is being widely circulated by email. It points out that, as Reynolds’ appointee, May helped give Iowa “one of the most restrictive rulings in the nation against the rights of women.” It goes on to say, “It is an unfortunate development in our society that these kinds of actions against judges must happen, but I’m afraid we have had to learn some sad lessons from those who deny the rights of women. It is well known that most Iowans do not support these draconian restrictions on women’s lives and decisions.”

That’s true: 61% of Iowans polled support abortion rights in all or most cases. Still, the governor saw fit to impose her personal beliefs over the will of the majority.

DeLong is co-founder with Charlotte Hubbell of a group of some 15 women known as Iowans for Reproductive Freedom (one word but light years away from the group that waged the 2010 ballot battle). Formed in November, 2022, it has placed billboards defending reproductive rights on display around Des Moines.

They carry such captions as:

•  Reproductive Freedom Is KEY to a Strong Family.
•  Keep Government OUT of Women’s Health Care.
• If Men Got Pregnant, We Wouldn’t Be Discussing This.

Though individual members support the ballot idea and are circulating DeLong’s letter, the organization isn’t officially involved in the effort. DeLong herself doesn’t doubt May is a good person. And she’s mindful that Reynolds would likely replace him with another justice of the same ideological bent. But she wants this to be a wake-up call. “It sends a message,” she said. “Maybe it will encourage people to think very seriously about what this court is doing to women.”

Unlike Vander Plaats’ well financed and heavily publicized initiative, she says, “We’re not trying to organize a campaign. We will do what women have always done before: Spread information to our friends.”  

More importantly, the goal this time is protecting rights, not undermining them.

“Much as I don’t like the fundamental concept of doing this,” DeLong said, “I think so many destructive lines have been crossed.”

And she’s right. They have been.

Rekha Basu is a longtime syndicated columnist, editorial writer, reporter and author of the book, “Finding Your Voice.” She retired in 2022 as a Des Moines Register columnist. Her column, “Rekha Shouts and Whispers,” is available at basurekha.substack.com.