Iowa

Fierce Blizzard Forces GOP Iowa Caucus Into Deep Freeze

Published

5 months ago

January 12, 2024

URBANDALE, Iowa — As a historic blizzard bore down on the first presidential caucus state of Iowa, a shivering Ron DeSantis joked that his team “can handle” the weather despite being “a Florida-based campaign.”

But as he stood outside his Des Moines-area campaign headquarters early Friday afternoon, DeSantis was wrapping his second and final campaign event on a day in which he was scheduled to hold four events.

As the entire GOP presidential field is finding out, Mother Nature can’t be outworked or out-organized, no matter how close the Iowa caucus looms on the calendar.

Thanks to what the National Weather Service called “life-threatening” blizzard conditions pummeling the state, nearly all the major Republican presidential candidates canceled campaign events for Friday.

While Nikki Haley scrapped her three events for the day and turned them all into “tele town halls,” Donald Trump’s campaign punted on their main event for the day, a rally headlined by campaign surrogate and Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake.

While DeSantis’ campaign added the event at his Urbandale headquarters late—which attracted plenty of restless press snowed in around the capital city—his Never Back Down super PAC axed its events for the governor for later in the day.

Characteristically, it was far-right longshot Vivek Ramaswamy who sought to keep his full Friday campaign schedule of four events around the state. “George Washington braved the weather to cross the Delaware,” Ramaswamy said in an irony-free post on X.

As for the campaigns’ active efforts to reach Iowa voters—which entails sending legions of volunteers to knock on doors—the whiteout conditions around the state would seem an obvious obstacle.

Yet the DeSantis, Haley, and Ramaswamy operations all confirmed to The Daily Beast that their canvassing plans plowed ahead on Friday despite the weather. (The Trump campaign did not return a request for comment.)

“People are still activated and excited,” a spokesperson for the Haley campaign told The Daily Beast. “Iowans are used to the weather!”

Iowans handle the cold better than most, but the final days of the caucus campaign will see record-breaking extreme cold. This year could wind up as the coldest Iowa caucus in modern history, with highs on Monday likely to fall below zero and stiff winds making conditions even more dangerous.

The Friday mess drains valuable time for DeSantis and Haley to organize and rally crucial support ahead of Monday’s caucus, in which Trump is strongly favored to post a comfortable victory.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis leaves a campaign office after meeting with his staff on January 12, 2024 in Urbandale, Iowa.

Scott Olson/Getty Images

Now, seemingly everyone in Iowa is attempting to game out whether the weekend’s cold, on top of the Friday blizzard, could meaningfully alter the landscape of a contest that has thus far been frozen in Trump’s favor.

While Haley and DeSantis likely aren’t expecting victories in Iowa, even the slightest hints of momentum could influence the primaries in the more competitive states of New Hampshire and South Carolina.

If the blowing snow and life-threatening cold conditions are going to help anyone by potentially deflating turnout on Monday, it’ll be Trump, said Steve Scheffler, a Republican National Committeeman for Iowa who’s remained neutral in the race.

Scheffler has been involved in every caucus going back to 1972, and told The Daily Beast in an interview that “turnout will be affected a little bit, but not a lot.”

The “diehards,” Scheffler said, will come out no matter what. “The major campaigns, especially Trump and DeSantis, have done a good job” cultivating their own supporters, the seasoned Iowa veteran said, but he remained adamant the cold shouldn’t depress turnout too much.

Whiteout conditions, on the other hand, could be a major problem, according to Scheffler, especially in rural areas. “Especially if you’re in rural Iowa,” he said, “and they’ve only got three or four caucus locations where you have to drive 15, 20 miles to get there.”

Still, there are others who see these conditions as a potential hurdle for Trump. According to the Des Moines Register, some Iowa Republicans believe the former president is poised to attract the votes of the vast majority first-time caucus participants—which would be good news for him, save for the fact that first-timers are seen as less likely to show up in bad weather.

Some DeSantis and Haley loyalists seem prepared to compete for every last vote, no matter how miserable it gets in Iowa. Tom Davis, a South Carolina state senator and Haley supporter, posted on X that his flight from Charlotte to Des Moines was canceled—so he planned to rent a car and drive the 800 mile trip instead.

Meanwhile, DeSantis was joined in Urbandale on Friday by a top ally, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), who drove eight hours from St. Louis after his flight to Des Moines got canceled. “A true alpha male right there,” a DeSantis volunteer remarked before the pair headed outside to address reporters.

With nowhere else for the press to go on a snow day, DeSantis played media critic after insisting “our voters are by and large committed caucus goers.”

Speaking with a Newsmax microphone right in front of him, the Florida governor called out the conservative media for treating Trump with kid gloves. Referring to Fox News and unspecified outlets as “basically a Praetorian Guard” protecting Trump, DeSantis charged “they don’t hold him accountable because they’re worried about losing viewers.”

“That’s just the reality,” DeSantis continued. “That’s just the truth.”

Now, the strength of his Iowa operation will be put to the test along with everyone else’s, but the remark from DeSantis signaled a potential excuse for a widely predicted Trump victory—regardless of how the weather impacts the contest.

Indeed, though the late stages of caucus campaigning have been derailed by the weather, Scheffler, the longtime Iowa Republican, said the major dynamics of the race are already locked in.

The most important players in Monday night, he said, could end up being the campaign representatives who speak at their local caucus sites right before Iowans cast their ballots—effectively the final impressions campaigns can make on any remaining undecided voters.

“In terms of the trajectory, I don’t think there’s much you can change at this point in time,” Scheffler said. “I think maybe 10, 15 percent of people are going into the night undecided, so it’s important to have a good person giving the speech up there.”

Still, he said the former president shouldn’t have much to worry about if the cold keeps any significant number of likely caucus goers indoors.

“And again,” the seasoned Iowa hand said, “Trump supporters seem to be more in concrete than the others are.”

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Iowa

ICCSD seeks to fill school board seat left vacant by VP J.P. Claussen’s resignation

Published

7 hours ago

June 1, 2024

Press Room

ICCSD seeks to fill school board seat left vacant by VP J.P. Claussen’s resignation

A seat is open for the governing body of one of the state’s largest districts.

The Iowa City Community School District closed the application window for Vice President J.P. Claussen’s vacant seat on Friday, May 31.

The board will appoint a new member during its June 11 meeting.

Here is what you should know about the opening:

More: What area statehouse candidates had to say about state, local priorities and why they’re running

Who is leaving the School Board?

Claussen is resigning from the school board more than a year before his term expires in 2025.

He has accepted a teaching position within the district and can no longer serve on the board. Claussen was first elected in 2017 and has served for almost seven years.

Claussen provided instruction in core academic areas from 2004 to 2014, collaborating with general education teachers at West High School. Claussen worked in the University of Iowa Health Care system from 2014 to 2022. He is currently a special education teacher in Cedar Rapids Community School District.

More: Meet the candidates running for the Johnson County Board of Supervisors

When will the vacancy be filled?

The school board will appoint Clausen’s replacement.

Iowa law requires the board to appoint a new member within 30 days of the board secretary becoming aware of the vacancy.

If the board fails to select a new member, the secretary must call for a special election within three days, according to Section 279.6 of the Iowa Code.

More: University of Iowa’s top earners: From coaches to doctors, who’s making the big bucks?

What comes next?

A special meeting for candidate comments and review of the appointment process will be held on Monday, June 3. That session will serve as a platform to evaluate the school board candidates and to ensure transparency throughout the process.

Another special meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 11, during the board’s regular meeting to appoint a new school board member.

The June 11 meeting will also be Claussen’s last as Vice President of the board.

The board’s June 25 meeting will be the first official board meeting for the new board member.

Jessica Rish is an entertainment, dining and business reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. She can be reached at JRish@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rishjessica_

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Iowa

Midwives’ lawsuit challenging Iowa certificate-of-need law can continue, judge says

Published

14 hours ago

June 1, 2024

Press Room

Midwives’ lawsuit challenging Iowa certificate-of-need law can continue, judge says

A pair of central Iowa midwives fighting for the right to build a stand-alone birthing center can continue their lawsuit against the state, a federal court ruled Wednesday.

Caitlin Hainley and Emily Zambrano-Andrews, who together make up the Des Moines Midwife Collective, are challenging a state law requiring any new medical facility obtain a “certificate of need” from regulators. That involves, among other expensive and time-consuming steps, giving any potential competitor notice of the proposal and the opportunity to argue why the new facility is not truly needed.

Hainley and Zambrano-Andrews, who currently provide home birth services throughout the Des Moines metro, want to open a birth center with tubs and other equipment so patients can give birth in a home-like setting. Their attorneys say that midwife service, whether at home or a birth center, is fundamentally different than that provided by hospital maternity wards. Their lawsuit, filed in February 2023, argues it is unconstitutional for the state to grant what amounts to a “competitor’s veto” to established businesses.

The state filed to dismiss the lawsuit. Wednesday’s ruling, by Chief District Judge Stephanie Rose, largely denies that motion. But Rose did rule the certificate of need law does not infringe on any “fundamental right” under the U.S. Constitution, meaning it will be easier for the state to prove its law is constitutional.

From 2023: MercyOne Des Moines to shut down its midwives program. What that means for pregnant moms:

The Iowa Attorney General’s Office did not respond to a message seeking comment. Wilson Freeman, an attorney with the libertarian-leaning Pacific Legal Foundation who is representing the midwives, said in an email they believe they will prevail even if the court does not agree the law infringes on their fundamental rights.

Strict scrutiny or rational basis?

Any law that burdens what courts consider to be a fundamental right — such as freedom of speech, the right to marry and have children, and more — must survive what is known as strict scrutiny, meaning it must be found to be “narrowly tailored” to serve a “compelling” government interest.

If a law does not implicate a fundamental right, courts instead apply what is known as rational basis review, meaning the law must only be “rationally related” to a “legitimate” government interest.

In this case, the midwives argued the certificate of need law violated multiple fundamental rights, including the right of mothers to choose their place and manner of giving birth and the right of the plaintiffs to earn their living. But the judge rejected those claims, finding other courts have declined to make birth setting a fundamental right and noting the U.S. Supreme Court’s “unmistakable resistance” to recognizing additional rights as fundamental.

Case can continue, judge rules

Attorneys for the state had asked for the case to be dismissed entirely, but Rose refused, finding the plaintiffs have “plausibly” argued the certificate of need law might fail even under rational basis review.

Among other arguments, Rose noted that the midwives raise the question of why they are allowed to provide home births without a certificate of need, but do need a certificate to provide the same service in a centralized location. Such a distinction does not improve the cost, availability or quality of maternal care, the women argue. Rose wrote the women have asserted a “plausible claim for relief” that the law lacks a rational basis, and agreed the lawsuit should continue.

Previously: Iowa finally passed a law to license midwives. Will it help sway medical field doubters?

Freeman, representing the midwives, told the Register they’re prepared to fight that fight.

“There is no rational reason for the state to require a certificate of need for midwives who want to help women give birth in a dedicated facility, while allowing midwives to attend births literally anywhere else without such a certificate, Freeman said. “While we continue to believe a fundamental right is implicated by the regulation, the law is unconstitutional under either standard.”

And although rational basis review is favorable to the state, similar laws have failed that test before, Freeman said. A Kentucky law requiring a certificate of need for moving companies was struck down under rational basis in 2014.

The case currently is scheduled for a bench trial before Rose in January 2025.

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.

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Iowa

Iowa Co. Sheriff’s Office asking for public help in locating missing 10-year-old

Published

21 hours ago

June 1, 2024

Press Room

Iowa Co. Sheriff’s Office asking for public help in locating missing 10-year-old

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – The Iowa County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help Friday night in locating a missing 10-year-old.

The sheriff’s office says 10-year-old Roseame Doyle has been missing since 6 p.m. and was last seen wearing an olive green shirt.

The Iowa County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in locating a missing 10-year-old.(Courtesy of the Iowa County Sheriff’s Office)

An Iowa County Emergency Management alert says she was last seen walking south from a residence in Hollandale. Doyle stands 4′5 tall, has brown shoulder length hair and blue eyes.

ICEM also noted that Doyle had a brown flowered backpack and paint on her face.

The sheriff’s office asks that anyone with information to call 608-930-9500.

Click here to download the WMTV15 News app or our WMTV15 First Alert weather app.

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