National Democratic group boosts 7 ‘spotlight’ candidates in Iowa House and Senate races

A national Democratic group is boosting seven candidates for the Iowa House and Senate as the party aims to flip Republican-held seats this November and begin to climb out of the minority.

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, an arm of the national Democratic Party dedicated to electing Democrats to statehouses around the country, named the seven Iowa “spotlight” candidates Tuesday. They are:

• Rep. Josh Turek, D-Council Bluffs, who is running for a second term in House District 20.
• Heather Sievers, who is challenging Rep. Bill Gustoff, R-Des Moines, in House District 40.
• Tiara Mays-Sims, who is challenging Rep. Eddie Andrews, R-Johnston, in House District 43.
• Aime Wichtendahl, who is running for House District 80, an open seat in Cedar Rapids, Hiawatha and Robins.
• Matt Blake, who is challenging Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, in Senate District 22.
• Sen. Eric Giddens, D-Cedar Falls, who is running for reelection in Senate District 38.
• Nannette Griffin, who is challenging Sen. Jeff Reichman, R-Montrose, in Senate District 50.

The news comes one day after the DLCC announced a plan to spend $10 million nationwide as part of its “Summer of the States” campaign. It’s not clear how much money the group could spend in Iowa.

Democrats are in the minority in the Iowa House, holding 36 seats to Republicans’ 64. And Republicans enjoy a supermajority in the Iowa Senate, with 34 seats to Democrats’ 16.

More: Iowa Democrats urge focus on education, abortion as they seek wins in November elections

House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, D-Windsor Heights, is the top Democrat in the Iowa House and a member of the DLCC board.

She said the national party’s decision to highlight candidates in Iowa “shows that what we’ve been saying for a while is true, which is that Iowa is a purple state.”

She pointed to the fact that Iowa’s 1st and 3rd congressional districts, which are held by Republican U.S. Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn, are on national Democrats’ list of top congressional seats to flip this year.

“It just goes to show you that the message that we’ve been giving for a long time, which is don’t give up on Iowa, has broken through,” she said. “And that some national folks are looking at Iowa and saying, ‘OK, this place can come back to purple. This place can come back into balance. Let’s get engaged and see what we can do.’”

Konfrst said it will take time for Democrats to win back majorities in the Iowa House and Senate, but argued the national party can see “we’re doing really good work to rebuild.”

“The DLCC knows that we’re not going to flip the Iowa House this year or the Senate,” she said. “But they also know that you don’t get there unless you start investing now. And so that’s why it really means a lot that they’re here and they’ve picked some great candidates.”

In a news release the DLCC said Republican majorities in the Iowa House and Senate “has posed grave threats to Iowans’ fundamental freedoms.”

The group highlighted Iowa Republican policies to restrict abortion, including a bill that passed the Iowa House to raise penalties for ending someone’s pregnancy without their consent.

Democrats and Senate Republicans said the legislation could endanger access to in vitro fertilization because it would have defined an “unborn person” as beginning at fertilization. The bill did not become law.

More: IVF fears scuttle Iowa bill raising penalty for ending pregnancy without consent

“Iowa Republicans made national headlines this year for their egregious threats to reproductive rights, and Democrats have the candidates this year to fight back and win targeted races,” DLCC President Heather Williams said in a statement. “The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is proud to announce our Spotlight candidates in Iowa, whose fierce support of fundamental freedoms and democracy will be instrumental for combatting the GOP agenda.”

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.