The episode opens with a reflection on America's 250th birthday. Chris wanted more. The fireworks, the parades, the national moment — it didn't feel commensurate with what 250 years of the greatest experiment in self-government deserves. John connects the muted celebration to decades of failure to teach American history, and the two discuss why the left's framework for America — defined by grievan...
Iowa's primary system protects both voters and political parties while still allowing independents to participate. Any voter can change their party affiliation at the polls on primary day, ensuring access without allowing one party to influence another party's nominee. Jungle primaries and ranked-choice voting add confusion, not clarity. These systems can produce same-party general elections, ball...
Nearly three-quarters of Iowa voters (73.8%) support an amendment to Iowa’s constitution requiring a supermajority vote to raise taxes. Seventy-one percent of voters support this constitutional safeguard, with only 12% opposed. Support is strong across party lines, including 75% of Independents. The amendment will be on the ballot this fall. In the governor's race, State Auditor Rob Sand leads Zac...
Chris Hagenow and John Hendrickson are back in the Hendrickson Library with a packed episode covering Iowa's fast-moving post-primary political landscape. Both gubernatorial candidates have now selected their running mates: Rob Sand tapped Dave Muhlbauer, a farmer from western Iowa, while Zach Lahn chose State Representative Derek Wulf of Black Hawk County, also a farmer. Chris and John break down...
The Iowa primary is in the books and the headliner on the Republican side was the governor's race, where Zach Lahn edged out Congressman Randy Feenstra 38% to 37.2% — a razor-thin margin that nonetheless produced a clear nominee. Chris and John unpack what drove Lahn's late momentum, why Feenstra came up short despite his early advantages in money and name recognition, and what the rapid consolida...
Iowa lawmakers approved a proposed constitutional amendment that would require a two-thirds vote of both legislative chambers to raise income taxes, giving voters the final say this November. The amendment is designed to place a higher barrier between taxpayers and tax increases by ensuring higher taxes cannot become the automatic response to budget pressures. The proposal reflects the long-standi...
Turnout in the March special election remained extremely low across the participating districts. Across the 12 contests, just 6,336 votes were cast out of 136,901 registered voters — a turnout of only 4.6 percent. Individual district turnout varied significantly. The highest turnout occurred in Sibley-Ocheyedan CSD, where 34.8 percent of registered voters participated in the PPEL renewal election....
"Property taxes are an issue. And I think voters are being more picky," said Sarah Curry with Iowans for Tax Relief, a group that advocates for lower taxes.Curry says that while some metro voters were willing to accept higher taxes to fund new schools, many Iowans elsewhere were not."When we look statewide, there were actually 25 bonds that passed and 33 failed. Knoxville, Panorama, I-35 — all...
Iowa voters considered 58 bond proposals totaling more than $1.7 billion in potential new borrowing. A majority (57%) of those proposals failed, with only 25 proposals (43%) gaining approval. Many repeat proposals were rejected again, showing continued taxpayer concern about property taxes and government spending. Just over $1 billion in new debt was approved, with nearly $700 million denied.