Showing posts with label Dwayne Alons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dwayne Alons. Show all posts

Friday, August 17, 2012

District Of The Day 3: Iowa Senate District 2, Iowa House District 3 & 4

Senate District 2
Registration: D 5072, R 22953, N 9674, total 37716, R +17881
Incumbent: Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, unopposed

Feenstra goes into his second term having never seen an opponent in either a primary or general election. Not a surprise, as this is by far the most Republican seat in the Senate. I'm still trying to find a term for Sioux County that would be the Republican equivalent of People's Republic of Johnson County.

House District 3
Registration: D 3655, R 9991, N 6624, total 20282, R +6336
Incumbent: Dan Huseman, R-Aurelia, unopposed

Redistricting is a greater threat to a GOP incumbent up here than any mere Democrat.  This race was settled when fellow incumbent Royd Chambers retired after getting paired up with Huseman, who gets a second straight unopposed general election.

July 19 Campaign Finance Report: The Daniel A. Huseman Election Committee

House District 4
Registration: D 1417, R 12962, N 3050, total 17434, R +11545, R +11534
Incumbent: Dwayne Alons, R-Hull, unopposed

The number one Republican House seat is entirely in Sioux County. Alons' God, gays and guns focus is a bit much even for his own party leadership, as he was the only senior Republican skipped over for a committee chair. But they like it back home: Alons won with 82% over a Some Dude Democrat in 2008, and he was unopposed in 2010.

July 19 Campaign Finance Report: Alons for Representative Committee

Senate District 2, House District 3 & 4: District of the Day 1 - 4/26/2011 | District of the Day 2 - 3/16/2012

Friday, March 16, 2012

District Of The Day Reboot: Iowa Senate District 2, Iowa House District 3 & 4

Senate District 2
Registration: D 5581, R 23961, N 10958, total 40516, R +18380
Incumbent: Randy Feenstra, R-Hull

This is where Republicans run up the score, and no Democrats filed for any of these seats. Take Sioux County out of the state, and John Kerry wins a 98-county Iowa in 2004. Sioux County dominates new District 2, the most Republican seat in the state, much as it dominated the old seat.

Unbelievably, Feenstra's old district was even MORE Republican. He loses Lyon and northern Plymouth, and instead gets O'Brien and Cherokee, plus the eastern part of Plymouth (which he didn't have before).

This area was the scene of an epic, general election level turnout primary in 2004 as relative moderate Dave Mulder knocked off the state's leading queer-baiter of the era, Ken Veenstra. Mulder stepped down after one term, semi-voluntarily (another epic primary was likely), and Feenstra moved from the county courthouse to the Senate in 2008 with no opponent in the primary OR the general. Don't be surprised if it happens again. There's something to be said for a 99 county strategy... but there's also something to be said for not stirring up a safe local incumbent and boosting turnout.

Randy Feenstra Iowa Senate Committee finance reports

House District 3
Registration: D 4037, R 10467, N 7633, total 22146, R +6430
Incumbent: Dan Huseman, R-Aurelia (Royd Chambers, R-Sheldon, retiring)

Redistricting is a greater threat to a GOP incumbent up here than any mere Democrat, and Chambers' retirement is the most excitement this race will see. My initial bet was that it would be Huseman, who suffered a heart attack and missed the end of the 2011 session, who could step down, but I'm apparently not the world's expert on internal GOP politics in northwest Iowa.

New House 3 is basically Chambers' O'Brien County (population 14,398) and Huseman's Cherokee (12,072), with a few townships in eastern Sioux and Plymouth thrown in. Huseman's old district 53 went south and east to the Sioux City limits and included southern and eastern Plymouth. He was held to 58% by a Democrat in 2008, but went unopposed last cycle.

Daniel A. Huseman Election Committee finance reports

House District 4
Registration: D 1544, R 13494, N 3325, total 18370, R +11950; the number one GOP House seat
Incumbent: Dwayne Alons, R-Hull

Alons is one of the only senior House Republicans who was passed over for a committee chair in 2011. His God, gays and guns focus is a bit much even for his own party leadership. But they like it back home: Alons won with 82% over a Some Dude Democrat in 2008, probably the state's biggest Democrat vs. Republican margin, and that earned him a walkover in 2010.

Old District 4 covered the northern two-thirds of Sioux and went north into Lyon County. The new seat is entirely in Sioux and adds Orange City, which used to be in Chuck Soderberg's old district 3. The exclusion of Lyon makes this seat a teeny bit less red. Yes, it used to be even MORE Republican.

Dwayne Alons for Representative Committee finance reports

Original post 4/26/2011 Statewide Map: Front | Back (with City Insets) | Old Senate, House

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

District of the Day: Senate District 3, House District 5 and 6

District of the Day: Senate District 3, House District 5 and 6



The last time a Democrat was seen in Le Mars: Senator Obama gets some Blue Bunny.

Senate District 3

Registration: D 9848, R 15,607, N 13,790, total 39,274, R+ 5759
Incumbent: Bill Anderson, R-Pierson

It's a common theme in legislative politics: people who lose leadership fights tend to retire soon after. Sioux City Republican Ron Weick was Senate minority leader for one session in 2008, but got overthrown soon after the election by Paul McKinley.

Adding to the indignity, when Weick retired in 2010, his chosen successor was pushed out of the race by ex-King/Grassley staffer Bill Anderson, who went on to a relatively easy general election win in old district 27.

The old seat included the southern end of Sioux City and Sergeant Bluff as half the district, then went northeast to Cherokee County (the old Dan Huseman house seat). Anderson's new seat keeps south Sioux City, but then wraps around the rest of the city to pick up most of Plymouth County. As a result the seat gets a little more Republican. Anderson holds over till 2014.



House District 5

Registration: D 4426, R 8975, N 7421, total 20837, R+ 4549
Incumbent: Chuck Soderberg, R-Le Mars

Soderberg, 53, first went to the house in 2004 from old district 3 when Ralph Klemme retired, with a solid primary win and no general election opponent. Soderberg got a 2008 challenge by self-starter Democrat T.J. Templeton, who wasted a little on-line money and lost by more than three to one. No one bothered in 2010.

Soderberg (seen yesterday floor-managing the nuclear power plant bill) loses southern Sioux County, and Orange City, to Dwayne Alons, and instead gets rural parts of north and west Woodbury. He loses more than 2000 Republicans as a result, but the seat is still solid red.

House District 6

Registration: D 5422, R 6632, N 6369, total 18437, R+ 1210
Incumbent: Ron Jorgensen, R-Sioux City

What was I saying about overthrown legislative leaders stepping down? After Kraig Paulsen ousted Christopher Rants as Republican House leader, Rants left, with a brief stab at a run for governor on the way out.

Our first district that's basically urban, this was the Rants seat till last year when Jorgensen took over old district 54, defeating `08 Rants opponent Carlos Venable-Ridley with relative ease. Jorgensen, 53, keeps roughly the same south chunk of Sioux City (the line moves a few blocks south in places) and gains a few rural townships and along with them a few hundred Republicans.


New Map
| New Map (Insets) | Old Map

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

District of the Day: Senate District 2, House District 3 and 4

District of the Day: Senate District 2, House District 3 and 4



Sioux County is so Republican that, had it been annexed to South Dakota in 2004, John Kerry would have won a 98 county Iowa. The only threat to Republicans up here is a primary or redistricting, and indeed the GOP has a problem with a pair in this neighborhood.

Senate District 2

Registration: D 5419, R 23,119, N 9904, total 38,450, R+ 17,700 (!)
Incumbent: Randy Feenstra, R-Hull

Sioux County dominates new District 2, the most Republican seat in the state, much as it dominated old 2. Unbelievably, old 2 was even MORE Republican. The district loses Lyon to the north and most of Plymouth (the LeMars part) to the south, and instead gets O'Brien and Cherokee to the east, plus the eastern part of Plymouth (which it didn't have before).

Old Senate District 2 was the scene of an epic primary in 2004 as relative moderate Dave Mulder knocked off the state's leading queer-baiter of the era, Ken Veenstra. Mulder stepped down after one term, semi-voluntarily (another epic primary was likely), and Feenstra moved from the county courthouse to the Senate in 2008 with no opponent in the primary OR the general.

House District 3

Registration: D 3890, R 10,102, N 6837, total 20,833, R+ 6212
Incumbents: Royd Chambers, R-Sheldon and Dan Huseman, R-Aurelia

New House 3 is basically Chambers' O'Brien County (population 14,398) and Huseman's Cherokee (12,072), with a few townships in eastern Sioux and Plymouth thrown in.

Chambers' old district 5 went north to Osceola County, picked up western Sioux, and included most of the land of Clay County (wrapping around to exclude the city of Spencer). He went unopposed the last two cycles and was one of the seven no votes on the map.

Huseman's old district 53 went south and east to the Sioux City limits and included southern and eastern Plymouth. He was held to 58% by a Democrat in 2008, but went unopposed last cycle.

This reminds me a lot of the Rick Larkin-Phil Wise pair of 2002: Two incumbents with relatively equal geographic bases, in a corner of the state which leaves little room to move, and on safe turf for the party. Both members are relatively young (Chambers 49, Huseman 58) but Huseman had a heart attack April 9 and has been away from the Capitol since.

Chambers discussed the pairing with KTIV-TV:
Representatives Royd Chambers and Dan Huseman, not only share a house in Des Moines, soon they'll also share the same district.

"It is kind of awkward being roommates and getting thrown in together, but again we wouldn't be roommate if we didn't get along with each other," said joked.

He says the topic's come up, and that neither's made a definite decision on their political future.
This won't get figured out until Huseman has recovered his health. Here's hoping that recovery will be swift and full.

House District 4

Registration: D 1529, R 13017, N 3067, total 17617, R+ 11488, which makes this the number one Republican House seat in the state.
Incumbent: Dwayne Alons, R-Hull


Alons, 64, who once argued that global warming wasn't a problem because we have air conditioning, has been focused on guns and gays this session, joining last week's last-ditch attempt at impeaching the Supreme Court, an effort immediately shot down by House GOP leadership. Yesterday, Bleeding Heartland noted:
Two experienced House Republicans joined (three freshmen) in filing the articles of impeachment: Betty De Boef (district 76) and Dwayne Alons (district 4). To some extent they are outsiders in their own caucus, among very few veteran legislators passed over for committee chairmanships when Republicans took back the Iowa House majority...

I don't see what unhappy party leaders can do to Alons. As I mentioned above, he doesn't hold a committee chairmanship leaders could take away. He isn't the brightest bulb, but he does have the guts to back hopeless causes. For example, he nominated Bob Vander Plaats for lieutenant governor at last summer's state GOP convention. Earlier this session, Alons proposed other legislation backed by only a small minority in his own caucus: he sought to reduce Iowa Supreme Court justices' pay and change the state's judicial selection process.
They like it back home: Alons won with 82% in 2008, probably the state’s biggest Democrat vs. Republican margin, and that earned him a walkover in 2010.

Old District 4 covered the northern two-thirds of Sioux and went north into Lyon County. The new seat is entirely in Sioux and adds Orange City, which used to be in Chuck Soderberg's old district 3. The exclusion of Lyon makes this seat a teeny bit less red.


New Map
| New Map (Insets) | Old Map