District Of The Day 3: Iowa Senate District 22, Iowa House District 43 & 44

Senate District 22
Registration: D 10564, R 15374, N 12464, total 38423, R +4810
Incumbent: Pat Ward, R-West Des Moines and/or Clive

I'll be honest; I thought Pat Ward was a goner. But after the hottest, nastiest (mostly from her opponent) primary in the state, the relocated Ward topped megachurch minister Jeff Mullen by a solid 58-42%.

The district is half Polk, half Dallas: Clive, Waukee, Windsor Heights and parts of WDM. The Polk half she had before, the Dallas half she did not. Ward was elected in a hurry-up special during the 2004 session, easily won a full term that fall and got by unopposed in 2008.

Attorney Desmund Adams is a great Democratic candidate in a lousy Democratic district. Adams has been high-profile and actually was ahead of both Republicans in fundraising on the January 19 reports. But frankly his chances would have been much better against Mullen.

July 19 Campaign Finance Report: Adams for Senate, Ward for Senate Adams led cash on hand with $11,449.52, though of course he didn't have a contested primary. Ward was down to $4,176.01 on hand, with $16,541.51 spend during the filing period that included the end of the primary.

House District 43
Registration: D 6513, R 7964, N 5094, total 19583, R +1451
Incumbent: Chris Hagenow, R-Windsor Heights

Lines stay similar: Windsor Heights, the Polk part of Clive, and part of northern West Des Moines. It's long and skinny but Clive's elongated boundaries kind of force that.

Hagenow has a tough race when teh seat was open in 2008, beating Windsor Heights mayor Jerry Sullivan by just 91 votes. He had an easier time in 2010, with 58%. The reality is probably between those two margins. Lines stay similar: Windsor Heights, the Polk part of Clive, and part of northern West Des Moines. It's long and skinny but Clive's elongated boundaries kind of force that. Hagenow gains about 200 Republicans compared to the old lines, which could be useful given the 2008 margin.

Democrats have recruited economic-development professional Susan Judkins of Clive.
July 19 Campaign Finance Report: Hagenow for Iowa House, Citizens for Susan Judkins This seat won't go cheap. Judkins is a serious fundraiser with $25,107.32 on hand. She's kicked in $3500 in personal money; there's also labor, law and banking money and all sorts of Democratic rainmakers. Hagenow, for his part, has $20,512.28 on hand.

House District 44
Registration: D 4051, R 7410, N 7370, total 18840, R +3359
No Incumbent

I could have called this one This Is Where Your Other District Went, but that joke's only funny once. I could also call this the Jordan Creek Mall district. This new, no incumbent seat is Waukee plus the Dallas County parts of Clive and West Des Moines, carved out of the old Ralph Watts turf. Waukee grew from just over 5,000 people in the 2000 census to nearly 14,000 in 2010, and becomes the anchor of this seat.

With no incumbents and few roots, I was expecting a multi-way primary like the one in This Is Where Your Other District Went. But the Republicans  settled early on Dallas County GOP chair Rob Taylor. Democrats have a better than Some Dude candidate in West Des Moines Fire Fighter Eric Brenneman.

July 19 Campaign Finance Report: Iowans for Taylor, Brenneman for Iowa Taylor has $20,123.59 ready to spend. But Brenneman, after a late start, picked up the pace and raised $7,854.00 in the filing period, with $5100 of that from firefighters. He has has $10,682.04 on hand.

Senate District 22, House District 43 & 44: District of the Day 1 - 5/24/2011 | District of the Day 2 - 3/16/2012