Friday, March 16, 2012

District Of The Day Reboot: Iowa Senate District 11, Iowa House District 21 & 22

Senate District 11
Registration: D 10085, R 19420, N 15325, total 44850, R +9335
Incumbent: Hubert Houser, R-Carson; holdover seat

Houser lost 1000 Republicans with this map, yet still has the third most Republican seat in the state. In an alternate universe without Iowa Clean Redistricting, those excess Republicans could have been gerrymandered into Council Bluffs to make Mike Gronstal's life hell.

The district keeps Houser's home turf, rural eastern Pottawattamie. In fact, he gains townships there, and now has all of PottCo outside the Council Bluffs city limits. But he loses all his counties to the south - Mills, Fremont and Page - to Joni Ernst. Instead he goes east. He inherits most of Cass, including Atlantic, from Nancy Boettger, and all of tiny Adams and Union from Ernst.

Houser moved over from the House without breaking a sweat in a 2001 special. He was unopposed in 2006 and overwhelmed a Some Dude Democrat with 74% in 2010. With an odd number district, he holds over till 2014.

Campaign finance reports: People for Houser

House District 21
Registration: D 4616, R 9358, N 7952, total 21933, R +4742
Incumbent: Jack Drake, R-Griswold

Drake, 76, has been in the House since 1992, and Cass County has been the core of the district the whole time.. He was unopposed in 2006 and 2010, and won with 59% in 2008. Drake drew a Democratic challenger this time:  Retired football coach John Rose of Creston.

The new district keeps similar chunks of western Cass, including Atlantic, and eastern Pottawattamie. But instead of going north into Shelby County, the new district picks up Adams and Union. The line changes make the new district a bit more Republican.

Campaign finance reports: Jack Drake for State Representative

House District 22
Registration: D 5469, R 10062, N 7373, total 22917, R +4593
Incumbent: Greg Forristall, R-Macedonia; primary challenge


Forristall won an easy primary and a 61% general to win an open seat in 2006, and has been unopposed since. The revised lines pull the district all the way into Pottawattamie, adding a chunk north of Council Bluffs. Old District 98 dipped down to pick up part of Mills County, including Glenwood. The changes cost Forristall about 1100 Republicans, but leave him safe in a general election. No Democrat has filed.


But his primary challenger, Avoca city manager Clint Fitcher, seems a lot less Some Dude than most of the other late-emerging intra-party rivals.


Campaign finance reports: Committee to Elect Greg Forristall

Original post 5/09/2011 Statewide Map: Front | Back (with City Insets) | Old Senate, House

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