Iowa
Rural Iowans have nobody to represent them; Republicans certainly aren’t doing it
If Republicans are the party for rural Iowans, why are the Democrats the ones trying to protect rural water quality? Why doesn’t the state government have a meaningful plan to slow population decline?
It’s conventional wisdom these days that America is divided between city and country, an urban-rural divide that drives our politics. Urban Democrats and rural Republicans, they say, have different cultures and rarely mingle. In this story, Democrats represent the interests of the cities and Republicans those of rural areas.
How, then, do we explain Iowa’s state government?
The allegedly pro-rural GOP has controlled the governor’s office and both houses of the state Legislature since 2017. So why are state policies so bad for rural Iowa?
Consider a few recent examples:
- Republicans’ signature accomplishment last year, public funding for private schools, has almost no benefit to Iowa’s rural counties, most of which have zero private schools.
- Gov. Kim Reynolds’ greatest priority this year has been cutting back the state Area Educational Associations, which primarily benefit smaller school districts. Iowa City can hire a multi-school speech pathologist and make its own bulk purchases; even Mason City needs access to the pooled professionals and purchasing power of the AEAs.
- Prominent Republicans back CO2 pipelines, despite their unpopularity with farmers.
- Large rural sections of the state lack mental, maternity, or reproductive health care after Republicans closed regional mental health centers and “reformed” a once-successful state family planning program.
- Meanwhile, the governor’s budget recommended zero funding for a UI initiative to better provide rural healthcare.
If Republicans are the party for rural Iowans, why are the Democrats the ones trying to protect rural water quality? Why doesn’t the Republican-controlled state government have a meaningful plan to slow or stop population decline in rural counties? Why isn’t the state government doing more to support rural hospitals and small farmers, or reducing Iowa’s reliance on ethanol mandates?
In short, why isn’t the so-called rural party focused on rural issues?
Maybe because it isn’t really the rural party.
Any post-election map will show Iowa with great swaths of red counties that voted Republican. But those are the counties that are losing population. Do they really have enough votes to carry an election?
According to the 2022 voting totals, the answer, at least for statewide races, is “no.”
We looked at two of the more competitive 2022 races, U.S. Senate and state auditor. In both races, the GOP performed better in rural counties. However, using the most generous definition of “rural,” at most 40% of Iowans live in rural counties. Even with high rural vote tallies, Republicans still draw up to 3 in 5 of their votes from urban and suburban counties.
And there’s the rub: Republicans need strong support in rural Iowa to compensate for how badly they do in cities. But because fewer people live in rural Iowa, a clear majority of Iowa Republican voters do not live in rural counties and may not care about rural issues.
The urban/rural narrative might be truer in the Legislature, where rural counties have direct representation. The growing number of uncontested legislative races says that the political parties think so and means that Republican legislators don’t have to work for their votes.
The end result for rural Iowa is that no party really represents its interests. Democrats care about things like education, water quality, and health care, but most Democratic representatives have an urban constituency. And rural Republicans may fear crossing the governor, who has brought out-of-state interest groups to fund primary challengers to Republicans who oppose her agenda. Food for thought, and perhaps a reason to run for office as an independent, if you live in a rural area.
But all of us should reconsider how we think about our communities and their needs. Bright blue Johnson County has more Republican voters than the 10 smallest rural counties combined. 30,000 more rural Iowans voted for our Democratic state auditor than for the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate. Our state is more purple than it looks at first blush, and both parties would do well to remember that.
Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick live in Iowa City and write at www.ourlibertiesweprize.com. And biannual time changes must be abolished.
Iowa
Emmy-winning TV anchor gets choked up as he quits job and journalism — and slams his station live on air
An Iowa TV anchor choked up on air as he quit his job, and announced he was leaving journalism – before blasting his station for spewing “saturated” news that makes local viewers “uncomfortable.”
Dustin Nolan, morning anchor for NBC-affiliate KWQC-TV 6 in Davenport, delivered the dramatic on-air resignation Friday, repeatedly pausing while fighting back tears before issuing a stinging rebuke of the news station.
“I have chosen to step away from the news industry,” said Nolan, who has worked at KWQC since 2022.
“Before I say goodbye, I just want to say, I hope every one of you that’s allowed me to be a part of your mornings just how important that I have taken this job, how much it means to me that you’ve trusted me these past few years to bring you the news in the morning.”
The distraught broadcaster stressed that he has “given everything” to serving up transparent, fact-driven news coverage to the Quad Cities, calling it a “public service.”
Nolan said all he has ever wanted was to report on the “issues that really matter.”
“I’ve always believed that we as a local news station owe you, the viewers, the best that we can do, because without you, none of us would be able to do this job,” Nolan added.
“I also believe that we, as a local news station, have to be more than trends or sanitized news, because it makes people feel uncomfortable,” he continued.
“That’s why the facts matter, and that’s why we do what we do here. We have to take people out of their bubbles and comfort zones and make them think about the world we all live in.”
The tearful anchor went on to praise his co-anchor — his wife Jenna — as the “greatest co-anchor in life.”
Nolan has worked at the Gray Media-owned station since November 2022, according to his LinkedIn.
After graduating from Catholic St. Ambrose University in Iowa, he began his career reporting sports in Wyoming for seven months before moving to Illinois, where he worked as a sports reporter at WQAD for nearly two years.
He later rose to a morning news anchor role at WFBF in Illinois, where he spent three years before joining KWQC.
Coming off a great campaign, the Iowa State Cyclones will be a different-looking team on the hardwood next year. Unfortunately, a lot of key players for the team last season will no longer be around.
After a successful trip to the Sweet 16, the Cyclones will be entering next season with a mostly new group. Due to players like Joshua Jefferson, Nate Heise, and Tamin Lipsey all graduating, the team was always going to have a different look.
While it appears likely that both Lipsey and Jefferson are going to be drafted into the NBA, it goes to show the level of talent that Iowa State is losing. These two players were arguably the two best on the team last year, and replacing that level of production will not be an easy task.
Since both of those players were seniors, the program knew that they would be playing elsewhere. However, the decision by Milan Momcilovic, who was their third star to enter the NBA Draft and transfer portal, likely wasn’t something the team expected before his breakout campaign.
However, due to his success last year, Momcilovic testing the waters of the NBA and entering the portal made a lot of sense for the talented sharpshooter. Eventually, he made the decision to join the Kentucky Wildcats, and losing him will be a big blow for the Cyclones.
Iowa State Will Miss Star Potential of Milan
Even though the Cyclones were able to bring in a lot of good players in the transfer portal, figuring out who the star of the team is going to be next year might be a bit tricky. If Milan were to have returned following one of the best shooting years in the history of college basketball, it would have undoubtedly been him as the featured player of the team.
Now, since Momcilovic is gone, Iowa State is going to need some of their returning players and their new additions to step up. While having quality depth is important, the Cyclones were a team that had arguably three of the top 50 players in college basketball last season.
With their three best players gone, it will be interesting to see who steps up and becomes the top players for Iowa State. Of the transfers, it could be JaQuan Johnson who looks to step up into that role. He is coming off a really strong year with Bradley and very well could be the top-scoring option for the team.
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Watch as Gov. Kim Reynolds reveals Iowa Office of Outdoor Recreation
Gov. Kim Reynolds signs an executive order June 8 creating an Iowa Office of Outdoor Recreation within the Iowa Economic Development Authority.
Iowa’s director of Health and Human Services has resigned after the Iowa Senate blocked his confirmation in April, but he will stay in leadership as deputy director.
Larry Johnson was appointed to succeed Iowa Department of Health and Human Services Director Kelly Garcia in September 2025. Johnson took over the department in October.
Johnson’s confirmation in April, however, was blocked by Iowa Senate Democrats. Johnson received the support of 28 senators, six votes short of the 34 needed.
“Hundreds of thousands of Iowans rely on the Department of Health & Human Services, but under Mr. Johnson’s leadership, those Iowans have been met with diminished care and services and a disrespectful lack of transparency and communication,” Iowa Senate Democratic Leader Janice Weiner said in a statement at the time of Johnson’s confirmation block. “Senate Democrats believe Iowans deserve more responsible leadership for such an important executive department.”
Under state law, 60 days after the Iowa Senate disapproves a person’s appointment, the nominee must step down. Johnson’s resignation came June 19, 58 days after his confirmation was blocked.
In a news release Friday, Gov. Kim Reynolds appointed Kraig Paulsen, the director of the Iowa Department of Management, to also serve as the director of Iowa Health and Human Services.
“This is not the first time I’ve called upon Director Paulsen to help lead executive branch departments during times of transition,” Reynolds said in a statement. “His experience across state government is unmatched, and I have full confidence in his ability to ensure our state’s largest agency has the leadership team required, not only to serve Iowans most in need of assistance, but also to advance strategic initiatives such as rural health transformation, cancer research, and child welfare technology improvements.”
Paulsen named Johnson as principal deputy director of the department to “ensure efficient and effective operations,” according to the release.
“Iowa HHS requires strong and experienced leadership at every level to ensure continuity of critical services such as Medicaid, SNAP, and child protection, and Larry Johnson is exactly that leader,” Paulsen said in the release. “I look forward to working closely with Principal Deputy Director Johnson to ensure Iowa’s strong commitment to our most vulnerable citizens continues as usual.”
Weiner, in a statement issued June 19, said Reynolds “has decided to blatantly disregard and circumvent the Senate in re-establishing Larry Johnson as the de facto head” of Health and Human Services.“This is partisan politics of the worst kind,” Weiner said in the statement. “Under Larry Johnson, the hundreds of thousands of Iowans who rely on HHS for critical services have received a diminished standard of care, a disrespectful lack of responsiveness, and a department more concerned with fealty to the governor than transparency to the public. And yet, this governor simply cannot handle a world in which she doesn’t get her way, so she has invented a title that allows Johnson to resume his work.”
Weiner said the decision to not confirm John was “not made lightly,” and “We did what was right for Iowans.”
“Our goal has been and remains to work within the bounds of the Senate for the benefit of all Iowans,” Weiner said. “Unfortunately, Gov. Reynolds would rather play politics than give Iowans the respect of a more diligent search for a qualified candidate.”
Kyle Werner is the breaking news and public safety reporter for the Register. Reach him at kwerner@registermedia.com.
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