Senate District 5
Registration: D 11692, R 12667, N 14557, total 38946, R +975
Incumbent: Daryl Beall, D-Ft. Dodge; holdover seat
Beall
won a third term in 2010 in old district 25 with 54% and holds over.
Beall loses about 900 Democrats and gets a slightly Republican district
that votes on the lower turnout gubernatorial cycle. The new seat keeps
Ft. Dodge and Calhoun County but loses Greene County to the south and
instead goes north into Pocahontas and Humboldt.
House District 9
Registration: D 7150, R 5140, N 6458, total 18764, D +2010
Incumbent: Helen Miller, D-Ft. Dodge; rematch of 2010 race
Miller
keeps her entire old district, which she's held since 2002, and adds
three townships to balance the population and maintain roughly the same
Democratic edge. The city of Ft. Dodge is almost the whole district
here, in a phenomenon I call "the district draws itself." The
redistricting law required cities and counties to be kept whole where
possible, and so if one is just below district size there's not much to
decide.
Miller's first tough race was in 2010. Matt Alcazar, a tea
partier who had started out running as an independent before switching
to the GOP line, came out of nowhere, and held Miller to 52%. Alcazar is
running again, but 2010 was probably a fluke. Republicans don't seem to
be targeting this seat, and Miller has received loads of positive
publicity for her recent induction into Iowa's African American Hall of
Fame.
July 19 Campaign Finance Report: Committee to Re-Elect Helen Miller, Alcazar for State Representative Miller has a solid $12,139.69 in the bank vs. Alcazar's $1,469.98.
House District 10
Registration: D 4542, R 7527, N 8099, total 20182, R +2985
Incumbent: Tom Shaw, R-Laurens, unopposed
Shaw
easily (65-35%) defeated primary challenger Maison Bleam, a recent
UIowa grad who was student government president. The unusual thing about
this primary challenge was that unlike the others, the challenger was
the moderate and the incumbent was the hard-right candidate. The primary
was marked by personal attacks and whisper campaigns about Bleam.
Shaw
replaced conservaDem Dolores Mertz, who barely won in 2008 and retired
in 2010. He got paired up with five-term leadership favorite Dave
Tjepkes, who didn't announce his retirement till January 10, one of the
last paired legislators to make plans public. No love lost there, as
Tjepkes endorsed Bleam.
July 19 Campaign Finance Report: Committee to Elect Tom Shaw
Senate District 5, House District 9 & 10: District of the Day 1 - 4/29/2011 | District of the Day 2 - 3/16/2012
The worst.
Showing posts with label Tom Shaw. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tom Shaw. Show all posts
Friday, August 17, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
District Of The Day Reboot: Iowa Senate District 5, Iowa House District 9 & 10
Senate District 5
Registration: D 12757, R 13356, N 16515, total 42659, R +599
Incumbent: Daryl Beall, D-Ft. Dodge; holdover seat
Beall won a third term in 2010 in old district 25 with 54%. Beall loses about 900 Democrats and gets a slightly Republican district that votes on the lower turnout gubernatorial cycle. The new seat keeps Ft. Dodge and Calhoun County but loses Greene County to the south and instead goes north into Pocahontas and Humboldt. Beall has till 2014 to get to know
those new constituents.
People for Beall finance reports
The Senate district is polarized between a Democratic half and an equally GOP part.
House District 9
Registration: D 7645, R 5535, N 7081, total 20278, D +2110
Incumbent: Helen Miller, D-Ft. Dodge; rematch of 2010 race
This is what I call The District Draws Itself: Iowa law requires that cities and counties be kept whole whenever possible. An ideal House District size is 30,538, and when you have a city or county just short of that size, it dominates whatever else is combined with it. The Ft. Dodge census population is 25,206, so that pretty much settles things. Miller keeps her entire old district, which she's held since 2002, and adds three townships to balance the population and maintain roughly the same Democratic edge.
Miller won with a surprisingly close 52% last time in one of those Some Dude near-miss races that was on nobody's radar. Miller had won easily since her first win in 2002, with a typical 60% in 2008. Yet Matt Alcazar, a tea partier who had started out running as an independent before switching to the GOP line, almost pulled it off in the zeitgeist that was 2010.
With a more than 2000 registration edge for the Democrats, this isn't completely out of reach but Alcazar's 2010 performance is probably close to the high water mark.
House District 10
Registration: D 5112, R 7821, N 9434, total 22381, R +2709
Incumbents: Tom Shaw, R-Laurens (Dave Tjepkes, R-Gowrie, retiring); Primary challenge
Tea partier Tom Shaw, who first announced his 2010 run as an independent, won an epic primary and beat Stephen Richards, the main-chance doctor who had fallen only 42 votes short of conservaDem Dolores Mertz in 2008. Shaw then took over with ease in the general as Mertz retired.
Shaw got paired up with five-term leadership favorite Dave Tjepkes, who didn't announce his retirement till January 10. Shaw had a reputation for working across party lines that may have actually disadvantaged him; there were rumors of a primary challenge even before Map Day.
So he's gone, but there's still going to be a primary here. Former University of Iowa student government president Maison Bleam announced his candidacy as "a different style of principled constitutional conservative." That's a polite way of saying that Shaw's taken the hard-right approach along with fellow freshmen Glen Massie and Kim Pearson.
Bleam is also playing the age card; it's interesting to me that conservatives, at this level of office, have generally been more willing to vote for young people and that they generally do a far better job of subsidizing their young ones -- check those resume bullet points on Bleam -- than my team. Still, this race seems like a heavy lift against an incumbent who won two hard-fought 2010 races and held off Tjepkes.
Shaw keeps his native Pocahontas County and Humboldt, but loses the city of Algona and southern Kossuth. He picks up Calhoun and part of rural Webster from Tjepkes.
No Democratic names here yet; their best shot was probably with the open seat last cycle.
Campaign finance report: Committee to Elect Tom Shaw
Original post 4/29/2011 Statewide Map: Front | Back (with City Insets) | Old Senate, House
Registration: D 12757, R 13356, N 16515, total 42659, R +599
Incumbent: Daryl Beall, D-Ft. Dodge; holdover seat
Beall won a third term in 2010 in old district 25 with 54%. Beall loses about 900 Democrats and gets a slightly Republican district that votes on the lower turnout gubernatorial cycle. The new seat keeps Ft. Dodge and Calhoun County but loses Greene County to the south and instead goes north into Pocahontas and Humboldt. Beall has till 2014 to get to know
those new constituents.
People for Beall finance reports
The Senate district is polarized between a Democratic half and an equally GOP part.
House District 9
Registration: D 7645, R 5535, N 7081, total 20278, D +2110
Incumbent: Helen Miller, D-Ft. Dodge; rematch of 2010 race
This is what I call The District Draws Itself: Iowa law requires that cities and counties be kept whole whenever possible. An ideal House District size is 30,538, and when you have a city or county just short of that size, it dominates whatever else is combined with it. The Ft. Dodge census population is 25,206, so that pretty much settles things. Miller keeps her entire old district, which she's held since 2002, and adds three townships to balance the population and maintain roughly the same Democratic edge.
Miller won with a surprisingly close 52% last time in one of those Some Dude near-miss races that was on nobody's radar. Miller had won easily since her first win in 2002, with a typical 60% in 2008. Yet Matt Alcazar, a tea partier who had started out running as an independent before switching to the GOP line, almost pulled it off in the zeitgeist that was 2010.
With a more than 2000 registration edge for the Democrats, this isn't completely out of reach but Alcazar's 2010 performance is probably close to the high water mark.
House District 10
Registration: D 5112, R 7821, N 9434, total 22381, R +2709
Incumbents: Tom Shaw, R-Laurens (Dave Tjepkes, R-Gowrie, retiring); Primary challenge
Tea partier Tom Shaw, who first announced his 2010 run as an independent, won an epic primary and beat Stephen Richards, the main-chance doctor who had fallen only 42 votes short of conservaDem Dolores Mertz in 2008. Shaw then took over with ease in the general as Mertz retired.
Shaw got paired up with five-term leadership favorite Dave Tjepkes, who didn't announce his retirement till January 10. Shaw had a reputation for working across party lines that may have actually disadvantaged him; there were rumors of a primary challenge even before Map Day.
So he's gone, but there's still going to be a primary here. Former University of Iowa student government president Maison Bleam announced his candidacy as "a different style of principled constitutional conservative." That's a polite way of saying that Shaw's taken the hard-right approach along with fellow freshmen Glen Massie and Kim Pearson.
Bleam is also playing the age card; it's interesting to me that conservatives, at this level of office, have generally been more willing to vote for young people and that they generally do a far better job of subsidizing their young ones -- check those resume bullet points on Bleam -- than my team. Still, this race seems like a heavy lift against an incumbent who won two hard-fought 2010 races and held off Tjepkes.
Shaw keeps his native Pocahontas County and Humboldt, but loses the city of Algona and southern Kossuth. He picks up Calhoun and part of rural Webster from Tjepkes.
No Democratic names here yet; their best shot was probably with the open seat last cycle.
Campaign finance report: Committee to Elect Tom Shaw
Original post 4/29/2011 Statewide Map: Front | Back (with City Insets) | Old Senate, House
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Two GOP House Announcements
Just two weeks now till filing starts for legislative candidates. Ye Olde Deeth Blog will do a District Of The Day update of some sort soon after the March 16 filing deadline, but for now, two more announcements on the House GOP side:
Johnson County folks will recognize the name Maison Bleam, the former UI student government leader who made a brief stab at the Johnson County Board of Supervisors during the 2009 appointment process. He's now making the Back Home run in House District 10. That seat already has TWO incumbents: five-termer Dave Tjepkes is stepping down and freshman Tom Shaw is running.
Bleam is also playing the age card; it's interesting to me that conservatives, at this level of office, have generally been more willing to vote for young people and that they generally do a far better job of subsidizing their young ones -- check those resume bullet points on Bleam -- than my team. And it's places like this (Pocahontas, Humboldt, and Calhoun counties, with part of Kossuth) that will elect the recent grad, as opposed to youthful "progressive" Iowa City. (Yeah, still mad Raj Patel lost.)
Still, this race seems like a heavy lift given Shaw's proven strength as a candidate in two 2010 races, a tough primary and a general election gain of a "Democratic" open seat (OK, Delores Mertz barely counts).
In Marshalltown, GOP farmer and ex-school board member Allen Burt is in the House 71 race against the man who loads my mailbox daily with false Google News alerts on his name, Democrat Mark Smith.
(And don't even get me started on the two David Johnsons... speaking of which, Democratic activists aren't exactly thrilled about the West Branch Johnson's chances against the GOP's Jeff Kaufmann in now-D leaning House 73, is anyone else going to get in?)
The city of Marshalltown is 90% of this seat. Smith has beaten the GOP's Jane Jech twice in a row; by a lot in 2008 and by a little in 2010. Jech has migrated to the Senate race instead, where she's an underdog to former senator Larry McKibben for the right to take on Democrat Steve Sodders this fall.
"(Bleam) said that compared to Shaw he is a ''different style of principled constitutional conservative".'' His different style, he said, is a result of his state, national and international experience...That's a polite way of saying that Shaw has aligned himself with the tea partiest of the tea partiest during his first term.
Bleam is also playing the age card; it's interesting to me that conservatives, at this level of office, have generally been more willing to vote for young people and that they generally do a far better job of subsidizing their young ones -- check those resume bullet points on Bleam -- than my team. And it's places like this (Pocahontas, Humboldt, and Calhoun counties, with part of Kossuth) that will elect the recent grad, as opposed to youthful "progressive" Iowa City. (Yeah, still mad Raj Patel lost.)
Still, this race seems like a heavy lift given Shaw's proven strength as a candidate in two 2010 races, a tough primary and a general election gain of a "Democratic" open seat (OK, Delores Mertz barely counts).
(And don't even get me started on the two David Johnsons... speaking of which, Democratic activists aren't exactly thrilled about the West Branch Johnson's chances against the GOP's Jeff Kaufmann in now-D leaning House 73, is anyone else going to get in?)
The city of Marshalltown is 90% of this seat. Smith has beaten the GOP's Jane Jech twice in a row; by a lot in 2008 and by a little in 2010. Jech has migrated to the Senate race instead, where she's an underdog to former senator Larry McKibben for the right to take on Democrat Steve Sodders this fall.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Anderson Out In House 24
Back at District of the Day time when I looked at the new empty districts in Ankeny and Dallas County, I said: "Paired up rural Republicans, this is where your district went."
No pair-up represented the politics of the past, geographically or politically, better than Richard Anderson and Cecil Dolechek in House District 24 in small and getting smaller Page, Taylor, and Ringgold counties. The pair-up resolves itself as Anderson, saying he needs more time for his law practice, stands aside.
Anderson, 55, also briefly applied for a Supreme Court seat last year before withdrawing his name. Matbe he's hoping for another shot. Varnum justice David Wiggins is up for retention in 2012, and Anderson's thoughts on marriage equality are well known:
As for House 24, Dolechek gets a safe GOP seat that's slightly more compact that his old four counties and change district.
That Didn't Take Long Update: Tuesday Dave Tjepkes announced his retirement in paired up House District 10. Two days later, district mate and fellow Republican Tom Shaw announces he's in.
No pair-up represented the politics of the past, geographically or politically, better than Richard Anderson and Cecil Dolechek in House District 24 in small and getting smaller Page, Taylor, and Ringgold counties. The pair-up resolves itself as Anderson, saying he needs more time for his law practice, stands aside.
Anderson, 55, also briefly applied for a Supreme Court seat last year before withdrawing his name. Matbe he's hoping for another shot. Varnum justice David Wiggins is up for retention in 2012, and Anderson's thoughts on marriage equality are well known:
“The reason we try to protect marriage because we want to protect something called responsible procreation,” said Anderson, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. “We want to drive procreation into a stable relationship and procreation only happens between a male and a female. See a male and a female can do something that a homosexual couple cannot: They can create children accidentally. That’s the issue. It’s not about love. It’s not about romance. It’s about driving state policy toward responsible procreation.”Of course, the anti-equality folks have a more complicated message than NO this cycle. Wiggins is joined on the ballot by Terry Branstad's three appointees who replaced the deposed justices.
As for House 24, Dolechek gets a safe GOP seat that's slightly more compact that his old four counties and change district.
That Didn't Take Long Update: Tuesday Dave Tjepkes announced his retirement in paired up House District 10. Two days later, district mate and fellow Republican Tom Shaw announces he's in.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Tjepkes Retiring, Leaves Paired District to Shaw
An opening day retirement resolves a two Republican redistricting pairup:
Shaw quickly aligned himself with the Crazy Caucus. Tjepkes, a generation older and years removed from any tough races, was one of four House Republicans who did not co-sponsor the anti-marriage equality constitutional amendment (though he, along with all Republicans and sadly three Democrats, ended up voting for it in the end). This had some folks talking primary challenge even before the map came out.
Shaw now is the favorite over Democrat To Be Named Later in this good Republican (reg edge +2333 on Map Day)
That Didn't Take Long Update: Shaw announces two days later.
State Rep. David Tjepkes, a Republican from Gowrie with a reputation for working across party lines on issues as diverse as road funding and protests at military funerals, announced Monday that he will not seek re-election this year.That "reputation for working across party lines" might have been more curse than blessing in a primary matchup with Shaw, a tea partier who first announced his 2010 run as an independent, won a hot primary, then picked up the old Delores Mertz seat from the Democrats on her retirement.
His retirement will end a decade-long legislative career in which he became chairman of the House Transportation Committee.
''At the conclusion of this, my fifth term in the Iowa House of Representatives, I have decided not to seek re-election to a sixth term,'' he said in a written statement. ''It has been a humbling and rewarding experience to serve all the folks in our district in the Iowa Legislature.
Tjepkes represents House District 50, which includes Calhoun and Greene counties plus most of Webster County. The reapportionment process placed him in a new House District 10 along with Rep. Tom Shaw, R-Laurens. That district includes Calhoun, Humboldt and Pocahontas counties plus western Webster County.
Shaw quickly aligned himself with the Crazy Caucus. Tjepkes, a generation older and years removed from any tough races, was one of four House Republicans who did not co-sponsor the anti-marriage equality constitutional amendment (though he, along with all Republicans and sadly three Democrats, ended up voting for it in the end). This had some folks talking primary challenge even before the map came out.
Shaw now is the favorite over Democrat To Be Named Later in this good Republican (reg edge +2333 on Map Day)
That Didn't Take Long Update: Shaw announces two days later.
Friday, April 29, 2011
District of the Day: Senate District 5, House District 9 and 10
District of the Day: Senate District 5, House District 9 and 10
Senate District 5
Registration: D 12,744, R 12,705, N 15,365, total 40,846, D+ 39
Incumbent: Daryl Beall, D-Ft. Dodge
Beall won a third term last year in old district 25 with 54%. Beall loses about 900 Democrats and gets a dead-even district that votes on the lower turnout gubernatorial cycle. The new seat keeps Ft. Dodge and Calhoun County but loses Greene County to the south and instead goes go north into Pocahontas and Humboldt. Beall has till 2014 to get to know those new constituents.
The Senate district is polarized between a Democratic half and an equally GOP part.
House District 9
Registration: D 7625, R 5253, N 6484, total 19378, D+ 2372
Incumbent: Helen Miller, D-Ft. Dodge
Update September 11: Alcazar running again.
Very little change for Miller in the district she's held since 2002. She keeps her entire old district and adds three townships to maintain roughly the same Democratic edge. This is one of those ones where the district lines practically draw themselves. An ideal House district size is 30,538, and the Ft. Dodge census population is 25,206.
Miller won with a surprisingly close 52% last time against Matt Alcazar, a tea partier opponent who had started out running as an independent. Speaking of tea partiers who started out running as independents...
House District 10
Registration: D 5119, R 7452, N 8881, total 21468, R+ 2333
Incumbents: Tom Shaw, R-Laurens,and Dave Tjepkes, R-Gowrie January 10: Tjepkes retires.
Tom Shaw, who first announced his 2010 run as an independent, won an epic primary and then took over with ease in the general as conservaDem Dolores Mertz retired. Shaw, age 49, has taken the hard-right approach along with fellow freshmen Glen Massie and Kim Pearson: uber-purist on abortion, joining the late session Supreme Court impeachment effort. He keeps his native Pocahontas County and Humboldt, but loses the city of Algona and southern Kossuth.
Tjepkes, age 67, hails from Gowrie in rural Webster County. He first won old district 50 in the last year lines were redone, 2002. He keeps Calhoun County but loses all of Greene County, which instead goes with Boone County into freshman Republican Chip Baltimore's seat. Tjepkes was was a 64% winner in 2008 and unopposed in 2010.
Tjepkes took the opposite approach to Shaw on marriage equality, as one of four House Republicans who did not co-sponsor the constitutional amendment (though he, along with all Republicans and sadly three Democrats, ended up voting for it). This had some folks talking primary challenge even before the map came out.
The two paired incumbents are from opposite corners of the district. The new seat is more Republican than either of the old seats. With the Senate seat on the odd cycle, a run at Beall is only an option if one of the two House members stands down for two years. Tjepkes could go east into new 48, where technically Democrat Lisa Heddens lives (but she's expected to go with most of her voters in the open 46 in Ames), but there's very little overlap with the old Tjepkes turf and it's a swing seat.
Shaw could go north a couple miles into the open district 2, but there's no overlap at all with his old turf and, while it's a good GOP district, the new one he's in is better. Shaw didn't back down from a contested primary last time, and the tea party favorite beat Stephen Richards, the main-chance doctor who had fallen only 42 votes short of Mertz in 2008.
On Map Day, Tjepkes said he was inclined to run, while Shaw declined comment. desmoinesdem bets on party establishment support leading to a Tjepkes primary win, but in a GOP primary my money is always on the crazy.
New Map | New Map (Insets) | Old Map
Senate District 5
Registration: D 12,744, R 12,705, N 15,365, total 40,846, D+ 39
Incumbent: Daryl Beall, D-Ft. Dodge
Beall won a third term last year in old district 25 with 54%. Beall loses about 900 Democrats and gets a dead-even district that votes on the lower turnout gubernatorial cycle. The new seat keeps Ft. Dodge and Calhoun County but loses Greene County to the south and instead goes go north into Pocahontas and Humboldt. Beall has till 2014 to get to know those new constituents.
The Senate district is polarized between a Democratic half and an equally GOP part.
House District 9
Registration: D 7625, R 5253, N 6484, total 19378, D+ 2372
Incumbent: Helen Miller, D-Ft. Dodge
Update September 11: Alcazar running again.
Very little change for Miller in the district she's held since 2002. She keeps her entire old district and adds three townships to maintain roughly the same Democratic edge. This is one of those ones where the district lines practically draw themselves. An ideal House district size is 30,538, and the Ft. Dodge census population is 25,206.
Miller won with a surprisingly close 52% last time against Matt Alcazar, a tea partier opponent who had started out running as an independent. Speaking of tea partiers who started out running as independents...
House District 10
Registration: D 5119, R 7452, N 8881, total 21468, R+ 2333
Incumbents: Tom Shaw, R-Laurens,
Tom Shaw, who first announced his 2010 run as an independent, won an epic primary and then took over with ease in the general as conservaDem Dolores Mertz retired. Shaw, age 49, has taken the hard-right approach along with fellow freshmen Glen Massie and Kim Pearson: uber-purist on abortion, joining the late session Supreme Court impeachment effort. He keeps his native Pocahontas County and Humboldt, but loses the city of Algona and southern Kossuth.
Tjepkes, age 67, hails from Gowrie in rural Webster County. He first won old district 50 in the last year lines were redone, 2002. He keeps Calhoun County but loses all of Greene County, which instead goes with Boone County into freshman Republican Chip Baltimore's seat. Tjepkes was was a 64% winner in 2008 and unopposed in 2010.
Tjepkes took the opposite approach to Shaw on marriage equality, as one of four House Republicans who did not co-sponsor the constitutional amendment (though he, along with all Republicans and sadly three Democrats, ended up voting for it). This had some folks talking primary challenge even before the map came out.
The two paired incumbents are from opposite corners of the district. The new seat is more Republican than either of the old seats. With the Senate seat on the odd cycle, a run at Beall is only an option if one of the two House members stands down for two years. Tjepkes could go east into new 48, where technically Democrat Lisa Heddens lives (but she's expected to go with most of her voters in the open 46 in Ames), but there's very little overlap with the old Tjepkes turf and it's a swing seat.
Shaw could go north a couple miles into the open district 2, but there's no overlap at all with his old turf and, while it's a good GOP district, the new one he's in is better. Shaw didn't back down from a contested primary last time, and the tea party favorite beat Stephen Richards, the main-chance doctor who had fallen only 42 votes short of Mertz in 2008.
On Map Day, Tjepkes said he was inclined to run, while Shaw declined comment. desmoinesdem bets on party establishment support leading to a Tjepkes primary win, but in a GOP primary my money is always on the crazy.
New Map | New Map (Insets) | Old Map
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