District Of The Day Reboot: Iowa Senate District 36, Iowa House District 71 & 72

Senate District 36
Registration: D 12349, R 13045, N 16292, total 41708, R +696
Incumbent: Steve Sodders, D-State Center; contested Republican primary, comeback attempt

Republicans have recruited a top-tier challenger for Steve Sodders: his predecessor.
Former three-term senator and one time congressional candidate Larry McKibben is challenging Sodders. Another Republican was already in the race when McKibben announced: two-time House loser Jane Jech. But she wasn't dissuaded so they'll settle things in the primary.

Marshall County makes up two-thirds of this seat. The old district had all of Hardin County and the tiny piece of Ackley in Franklin County. The district moves east to take in all of Tama County and a small piece of southern Black Hawk.

Sodders won by more than 3,000 votes when McKibben retired in Democratic wave year 2008. The new lines will help him in 2012, as he sheds 1500 Republicans and this becomes a true swing seat. Sodders, a deputy sheriff, has cut a moderate image and is recently raffling off guns as a fund raiser.

Finance reports were due before McKibben joined the race. Sodders for State Senate had a big money lead: $26,630 in cash on hand compared to $784 for Jane Jech for Iowa Senate.

House District 71
Registration: D 6233, R 6070, N 7551, total 19863, D +163
Incumbent: Mark Smith, D-Marshalltown

The District Draws Itself: With a census population of 27,552, Marshalltown is 90.4% of ideal district size. Even the rural part stays almost the same, adding one township and keeping the communities of Albion and Liscomb.

Democrat Mark Smith is the beneficiary of this geopolitical and numeric serendipity, and of course the partisan balance barely changes. This remains a swing seat, as it's been for years (one upside of the district Draws Itself is comparisons across decades are possible). There was a 58 vote race here in 1992, and Smith won the seat in 2000 by knocking off three term Republican Beverly Nelson-Forbes by just 275. He settled in to the point where he was unopposed in 2004 and 2006, and beat Republican Jane Jech by more than 1700 in 2008. But in a rematch with Jech against the 2010 GOP wave, Smith survived by just a 303 vote margin.

With Jech in the Senate race, Republicans have turned to farmer and ex-school board member Allen Burt for the House race.

Campaign finance reports: Mark Smith for Iowa House

House District 72
Registration: D 6116, R 6975, N 8741, total 21845, R +859
Open seat; Lance Horbach, R-Tama, not seeking re-election. Contested Democratic primary

Horbach announced his retirement before The Map was even released. Republican Dean Fisher of Garwin will try to hold a seat that's significantly less Republican. The old Tama-Grundy seat had a GOP registration edge of almost 2500, and Horbach had gradually settled into the comfort of uncontested races. This decade Tama County gets sent west to pick up all of Marshall County south and west of Marshalltown. It also adds two rural Black Hawk County townships and La Porte City.

This shifts the district into the swing seat zone, and Democrats look to be making a serious effort with Sac and Fox tribal executive Christina Blackcloud-Garcia. She got the whole House Democrats rollout treatment... and then she got a primary opponent. Nathan Wrage of Gladbrook is a school custodian and county conservation board member.

This area has seen close contests; Horbach won his first term by nine (!) votes over Democrat Bill Brand in 1998.

Campaign finance reports: Dean Fisher for House 2012

Original post 6/13/2011 Statewide Map: Front | Back (with City Insets) | Old Senate, House

Day 9 of Filing

The Republican 1st Congressional District primary is now official, as Rod Blum joins Ben Lange on the ballot.

That tops today's list of filing, but my local readers will be more interested in Dick Schwab. The Solon school board member filed in House District 73. He'll have a Democratic primary with former West Branch city council member David Johnson; the winner faces GOP incumbent Jeff Kaufmann of Wilton in a Democratic-leaning district.

We have two News To Me Republican primary challenges, in what's starting to look like a trend. Matthew Ung of Sioux City House District 6, held by fellow Republican Ron Jorgensen. He's young, he's teapartyish, he writes letters to the editor in bulk... he's Some Dude.

James Demichelis, Jr. of Chariton ran a a Democrat against Rich Arnold in 2008. This year he filed as a Republican and is challenging freshman Rep. Joel Fry, R-Osceola in House District 27. S - O - M - _, D - U - D - _ , can I buy an E.

In another GOP primary challenge, Kevin Wolfswinkel of Sibley is challenging Rep. Jeff Smith, R-Okoboji, in House District 1. Both filed today; Wolfswinkel seems to be running to the right.

Larry McKibben is officially on the comeback trail. The Marshalltown Republican filed today in Senate District 36. He'll have a primary with two-time unsuccessful House candidate Jane Jech. The winner will face McKibben's successor, Democrat Steve Sodders.

In the two year race for Senate District 49, Dorothy O'Brien of Clinton joins Rita Hart on the Democratic primary ballot. Winner faces 2010 near-winner Andrew Naeve.

Burlington veteran Brad Bourn filed on the Republican line in Senate District 44. His challenge to Democratic incumbent Tom Courtney is steeper than Snake Alley.

Altoona city council member Joe Riding filed in open House District 30. He announced well before GOP incumbent Kim Pearson announced her retirement after one term.

Marshalltown Republican Allen Burt filed in House 71 against Democratic incumbent Mark Smith.

Sioux City freshman Democrat Chris Hall filed in House District 13. He'll face Republican freshman Jeremy Taylor in the only two incumbent matchup on the House side in November.

Significant non-filing news today:

Sac and Fox tribal executive Christina Blackcloud-Garcia announced in open Tama County based House District 72, where Republican Lance Horbach is retiring.

In open Senate District 42, Fort Madison mayor Steve Ireland is dropping out of the Democratic primary. This leaves three Democrats in the running for Gene Fraise's open seat: Bob Morawitz and Donna Amandus, both of Fort Madison, and Rich Taylor of Mount Pleasant. Winner faces Republican Larry Kruse in a good Democratic seat.

And in open Senate District 6, where Republican Steve Kettering is retiring, Carroll's Douglas Burns reports:

Carroll Democrat Mary Bruner, a candidate for the new Iowa Senate District 6, is getting positive press in the northern part of the newly drawn political territory on a crucial issue: dredging in Storm Lake.

For years, The Storm Lake Times has aggressively advocated for improvements to the lake.

The newspaper in its Feb. 29 issue credited Bruner — who is a cousin of State Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs — with “interceding” on behalf of Storm Lake to secure $1.5 million in dredging funds for next year.

In other words, The Times, in one of its top front-page stories, is giving Bruner credit for doing Senate work before she’s even elected, a political boon for the Carroll banker in Buena Vista County.

Significantly, Burns also says: "Carroll County Republicans, working with Gov. Terry Branstad and other party leaders, have sought to recruit candidates from Carroll County but have been turned down by at least two well-known Carroll residents who would have been strong contenders." The combination of a solid candidate, family ties -- was I just saying I hope Gronstal has a path to 26 that doesn't run through Oskaloosa? -- and Republican recruitment failure puts this seemingly unlikely western Iowa turf on the possible pickup list.

Routine incumbent filings on Day 9:

Gary Worthan, R-Storm Lake, in House District 11

Greg Forristall, R-Macedonia, in House District 22

Brian Quirk, D-New Hampton, in House District 52

Tyler Olson, D-Cedar Rapids, in House District 65

Todd Taylor, D-Cedar Rapids, in House District 70

Mary Wolfe, D-Clinton in House District 98