Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg wave to supporters throughout a Republican Occasion of Iowa election night time rally, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photograph/Charlie Neibergall)

So a really massive jury of our friends has sentenced us to 4 extra years of Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds and not less than two extra years of a GOP-controlled Legislature.

Because of the voters for his or her service. As for the decision, nicely, no thanks.

A number of weeks in the past, I used to be requested what’s going to occur on election night time. “A massacre,” I stated in describing Democratic probabilities. I didn’t need to be proper, however right here we’re, in a state as pink as a clown nostril, as pink as a twister warning with no shelter in sight. Republicans almost grabbed each statewide workplace, though Democratic Auditor Rob Sand leads amid recounts. Nonetheless, oversight is on life assist.

With inflation, fuel costs and financial worries, the local weather favored Republicans. Blame the state social gathering, the campaigns, the candidates or the president, however Democrats have forgotten win in Iowa.

Hopes that different points, together with the struggle for abortion rights, would change the sport fizzled. Reynolds and different GOP state candidates pushed for abortion restrictions and utilizing public bucks for personal college scholarships. Each are unpopular, however that didn’t appear to matter.

Prime Iowa Republicans proudly acquired assist from a former president who incited an assault on the U.S. Capitol and stays a transparent and current menace to our democracy. Our governor, U.S. senators and GOP members of Congress don’t have the braveness to face as much as the menace. And but, it didn’t appear to matter. Donald Trump-backed candidates stumbled elsewhere within the nation, however Iowa stays his stronghold.

A radical, conservative Supreme Court docket obliterated girls’s reproductive rights, and will trample extra constitutional protections. In Iowa, it appears will probably be solely a matter of time earlier than abortion is successfully banned. Making exceptions for rape, incest and the lifetime of the mom is just not center floor, as Republicans portrayed it. It’s excessive. But it surely didn’t appear to matter.

Democrats don’t actually favor abortion up till start, or defunding police. College libraries aren’t actually peddling “pornographic” books. Lecturers don’t have a secret “sinister agenda” to hurt kids. Transgender children actually aren’t a menace to their classmates. Republicans repeated these lies again and again. It didn’t appear to matter. They gained massive anyway.

Iowa Democrats wandering the wilderness and now discover themselves in a desert for years to come back. In December, they’ll doubtless lose their first-in-the-nation caucuses. This pink wave doubtless sealed that destiny.

So it’s time to surrender, proper? Pull down the shades, pull up the blankets and cancel your Twitter accounts. Trumpian forces rule Iowa. The massive liar himself will quickly launch his seditious 2024 sequel. Or possibly Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or another Republican will take up the Trump trigger.

It wasn’t way back that I thought-about giving up this gig as soon as the election confirmed Iowa’s remaining plunge into the crimson crevasse. However I’m going to stay round and struggle for my residence state, understanding I could by no means see the turnaround. Name me a glutton for punishment.

“The Gazette has given me hope that not less than we have now some gentle in such a time of darkness. Bless you and The Gazette,” a reader wrote after my Sunday column.

“Your columns assist me really feel much less alone. Thanks for giving voice to the unvoiced … “ one other wrote.

So the decision is in, however the appeals for sanity aren’t exhausted.

(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com