District Of The Day 3: Iowa Senate District 17, Iowa House District 33 & 34

Senate District 17
Registration: D 14655, R 6726, N 9210, total 30665, D +7929
Incumbent: Jack Hatch, D-Des Moines; holdover seat

Hatch's district keeps its solid Democratic margin, but instead of going north, it shifts south and east to the city limits (the west line is Fleur). Hatch was unopposed in 2010 and holds over to 2014. Reminder: Hatch ran in a congressional primary in 1996.

Registration: D 7146, R 3153, N 4502, total 14834, D +3993
Incumbent: Kevin McCarthy, D-Des Moines

My stomach still hurts from laughing at the Republican nominating convention here. TheIowaRepublican has the blow by blow but the tl;dr version is this. GOP chair A.J Spiker calls the convention, presumably to nominate fellow Paulistinian Cory Ewing. The other choice is the truly toxic Jeremy Walters, who even fellow Republicans disowned when he was McCarthy's 2010 opponent.

So THREE delegates show up, take one look at Ewing and Walters, and say Hell, no. Delegate Daniel LeRette literally volunteered from the audience, and minutes later was the Republican nominee in Iowa House District 33. Later he told the Register “This was a very last-minute and sloppy process,” and that the party should have let the seat go uncontested this year. Yes, the candidate himself said that.

So what can I say after that... McCarthy took over as Majority Leader, the number two leadership post behind Speaker Pat Murphy, in 2006 when the Democrats won the House. Murphy stood down after the 2010 loss and McCarthy moved into the top spot. Minor line changes make his home turf about 500 Democrats safer, and while LeRette may have done his party a favor by keeping the embarrassing Ewing and Walters off the ballot, he's not likely to keep McCarthy away from his statewide campaign for Speaker.

July 19 Campaign Finance Report: McCarthy for State Representative-McCarthy for Iowa On July 19, Kevin McCarthy had a leaderly $156,359.97 in the bank, ready to ship off to his candidates as needed, and Daniel LeRette had no idea he was going to be running for the Iowa Legislature.

House District 34
Registration: D 7509, R 3573, N 4708, total 15831, D +3936
Incumbent: Bruce Hunter, D-Des Moines

Here's another one where a hapless Republican did her party a great service. Some Dude Patti Branco defeated anti-abortion extremist, perennial candidate and self-proclaimed "Secretary General of the Army of God" Dave Leach in the GOP primary. The scary part is that she only won 58-40%.

As for the incumbent, Hunter won easily in 2008, and his 2010 opponent dropped out. His south-side turf moves north and takes in the core of downtown, up to I-235. Like McCarthy, his safe seat gets just a little better.

July 19 Campaign Finance Report: Patti Branco for Iowa House, Committee to Elect Bruce Hunter Considering the district's degree of difficulty, Branco's $4,584.79 on hand isn't bad. It's even comparable to Hunter's $5,845.21. But Branco's numbers are padded by one $2500 donation from an Edward Coppola of Dallas. Not sure the connection other than his Iowa tie seems to be Drake Law.

Senate District 17, House District 33 & 34: District of the Day 1 - 5/17/2011 | District of the Day 2 - 3/16/2012

District Of The Day Reboot: Iowa Senate District 17, Iowa House District 33 & 34

Senate District 17
Registration: D 16615, R 7302, N 10142, total 34138, D +9313
Incumbent: Jack Hatch, D-Des Moines; holdover seat

Hatch has been a non-consecutive fixture in the Legislature for 25 years. He first went to the House in 1984, then lost a 1992 state Senate primary and a 1996 Congressional primary. He landed on his feet as Tom Harkin's top state staffer, then made an unexpected comeback to the House in 2000 when Mike Cataldo's re-election race melted down. He was paired with Ed Fallon in 2002 but switched over to the Senate and has had easy races since. As he will in the future, with the third most Democratic district in the state.

Hatch's district keeps its solid Democratic margin, but instead of going north, it shifts south and east to the city limits (the west line is Fleur). In fact, it changes enough that he has two different representatives; the old seat was made up of the Ruth Ann Gaines and Ako Abdul-Samad districts, neither of whom is in this new district. Hatch was unopposed in 2010 and holds over to 2014.

Campaign finance reports: Neighbors for Hatch

House District 33
Registration: D 7962, R 3405, N 4815, total 16217, D +4557
Incumbent: Kevin McCarthy, D-Des Moines

McCarthy claimed this seat in a three-way 2002 primary and has had few difficulties since. He took over as Majority Leader, the number two leadership post behind Speaker Pat Murphy, in 2006 when the Democrats won the house. Murphy stood down after the 2010 loss and McCarthy moved into the top spot. He won his own race with 60% in 2010 against perennial candidate Jeremy Walters, who got kicked out of the Republican's fair booth for saying AIDS victims deserved to die.

The southeast corner of Des Moines still dominates McCarthy's district. It moves a bit west, shedding the city of Pleasant Hill; the west border moves from SE 14th to Union and SE 5th. The north line moves south from University to the Iowa Interstate tracks. That all makes the safe Democratic seat about 500 Democrats safer. With no Republican opponent yet, McCarthy should be able to focus his efforts on taking back the House with few worries about his own seat.

Campaign finance reports: McCarthy for State Representative-McCarthy for Iowa

House District 34
Registration: D 8653, R 3897, N 5327, total 17921, D +4756
Incumbent: Bruce Hunter, D-Des Moines

Hunter won a hurry-up January 2003 special when the just re-elected Frank Chiodo stepped down pre-session. Few problems since: an easy 2008 win, and his 2010 opponent dropped out.

Anti-abortion extremist, perennial candidate and self-proclaimed "Secretary General of the Army of God" Dave Leach made his way onto the Republican primary ballot. This is at least his seventh campaign; the most recent run was against Matt McCoy in 2010. Republicans who don't think murdering doctors is morally justified can vote for Patti Branco in the primary instead.

Hunter's south-side turf moves north and takes in the core of downtown, up to I-235, giving the district a tall, skinny look on a map. Sort of like 801 Grand only without the point on top. He cedes some turf on the east to McCarthy, and gets a nice smooth Fleur Drive line on the west. Like McCarthy, his safe seat gets just a little better.

Campaign finance reports: Committee to Elect Bruce Hunter

Original post 5/17/2011 Statewide Map: Front | Back (with City Insets) | Old Senate, House

District of the Day: Senate District 17, House District 33 and 34

District of the Day: Senate District 17, House District 33 and 34

Senate District 17

Registration: D 16,435, R 6616, N 9581, total 32,696, D+ 9819
Incumbent: Jack Hatch, D-Des Moines

Hatch has been a non-consecutive fixture in the Legislature for 25 years. He first went to the House in 1984, then lost a 1992 state Senate primary and a 1996 Congressional primary. He landed on his feet as Tom Harkin's top state staffer, then made an unexpected comeback to the House in 2000 when Mike Cataldo's re-election race melted down. He was pared with Ed Fallon in 2002 but switched over to the Senate and has had easy races since. As he will in the future, with the second most Democratic district in the state.

Hatch's district keeps its solid Democratic margin, but instead of going north, it shifts south and east to the city limits (the west line is Fleur). In fact, it changes enough that he has two different representatives; the old seat was made up of the Ruth Ann Gaines and Ako Abdul-Samad districts, neither of whom is in this new district. Hatch, 60, was unopposed in 2010, holds over to 2014, and can contemplate higher ambitions that have long been frustrated.

House District 33

Registration: D 7928, R 3162, N 4573, total 15,692, D+ 4766
Incumbent: Kevin McCarthy, D-Des Moines

McCarthy claimed this seat in a three-way 2002 primary and has had few difficulties since. He took over as Majority Leader, the number two leadership post behind Speaker Pat Murphy, in 2006 when the Democrats won the house. Murphy stood own after the 2010 loss and McCarthy moved into the top spot. He won his own race with 60% in 2010 against perennial candidate Jeremy Walters, who got kicked out of the Republican's fair booth for saying AIDS victims deserved to die.

The southeast corner of Des Moines still dominates McCarthy's district. It moves a bit west, shedding the city of Pleasant Hill; the west border moves from SE 14th to Union and SE 5th. The north line moves south from University to the Iowa Interstate tracks. That all makes the safe Democratic seat about 500 Democrats safer, and McCarthy should be able to focus his efforts on taking back the House with few worries about his own seat.

House District 34

Registration: D 8507, R 3454, N 5008, total 17,004, D+ 5053
Incumbent: Bruce Hunter, D-Des Moines

Hunter won a hurry-up January 2003 special when the just re-elected Frank Chiodo stepped down pre-session. Few problems since: an easy 2008 win, and his 2010 opponent dropped out.

Hunter's south-side turf moves north and takes in the core of downtown, up to 235, giving the district a tall, skinny look on a map. Sort of like 801 Grand only without the point on top. (By my count, Hunter and Hatch have the eight tallest buildings in Iowa in their districts, but my sense of downtown Des Moines geography may be off.) He cedes some turf on the east to McCarthy, and gets a nice smooth Fleur Drive line on the west. Like McCarthy, his safe seat gets just a little better.

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