Pat Rynard founded Iowa Starting Line in 2015. He still keeps a close eye on Iowa politics, his dog’s name is Frank, and football season is his favorite time of year.
Pat Rynard
Latest from Pat Rynard
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Four Iowa Politics Takeaways From This Year’s Steak Fry
Democratic activists and candidates gathered on a sunny, hot field on Saturday for the Polk County Democrats’ annual Steak Fry, which returned to an in-person setting this year (with plenty of COVID precautions). Illinois Rep. Lauren Underwood keynoted the event to give an excellent look at what young leadership in Congress looks like, while Iowa…
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Billboard Tying Greene to Hinson, Miller-Meeks Greets Fair-Goers
Although she won’t be able to see it on Twitter for another day, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and other Iowa State Fair-goers will be greeted this week by a billboard tying the congresswoman to two of Iowa’s own Republican members of the US House. Democrats hope Iowans will connect the far-right conspiracy theorist, recently blocked…
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Bennett In For Senate, Scheetz Now Running For House
Two weeks after state Sen. Rob Hogg announced his upcoming retirement from the Iowa Senate, the field of Democrats looking to fill his seat in the chamber is getting a shake-up. State Rep. Liz Bennett announced last night that she is officially running for the Senate after several days of consideration, and Sami Scheetz told…
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Iowa Starting Line’s New Mission, New Network To Combat Disinformation
If it feels like some of your relatives and neighbors are living in a different reality than you these days because of how they consume information online, it’s because they essentially are. We’ve all witnessed how the struggles of the local news industry have coincided with the rise of disinformation online, the rapid spread of…
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Quick Rises Now The Norm, Necessity For Iowa Democrats
Iowa’s U.S. Senate race may feature a match-up between Chuck Grassley and a Democrat less than half his age who wasn’t alive when the senator was first elected to office. Kim Reynolds will likely face off with someone with a fraction of years experience in public office as her. For many Iowa Democrats, seeing new,…
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Who Will Lead Iowa Democrats’ Ticket In 2022?
Iowa Democrats are eager to set their sights on the future following yet another poor election showing in 2020, one that saw the party again fail to win the top statewide race on the ballot. To get that effort moving, they’ll need candidates to take on Gov. Kim Reynolds and Sen. Chuck Grassley for the…
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Farmer Dave Muhlbauer Launches Senate Run, First Democrat In Against Grassley
A farmer from Crawford County with a family history of winning as a Democrat in rural Western Iowa announced his campaign for the U.S. Senate seat held by Chuck Grassley today. Dave Muhlbauer, 37, a recent county supervisor and fifth-generation family farmer, kicked off his bid with a video that sought to redefine to Iowa…
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Iowa Now Governed By Right-Wing Internet Memes
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds finished out the 2021 legislative session in fitting fashion late Wednesday night, signing into law a hastily-passed bill to immediately ban schools from enforcing mask policies. Just over her shoulder during the ceremony was an anti-mask, Q-Anon conspiracy theorist who held a sign that suggested masking children was abuse. Reynolds signed…
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Videos Show Sioux City Officer Push Black Man Onto Table At Perkins, Aim Taser At Him
Videos have quickly circulated on Facebook in Iowa over the past day that show an incident from a Sioux City Perkins restaurant early Thursday morning where a police officer instructs a Black man to leave the premises, grabs ahold of his arm, pushes the man on a table and then points a taser at his…
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Iowa Starting Line Is Hiring
Iowa Starting Line is entering another expansion phase as we build out our newsroom in 2021 and focus on developing a broader readership audience in Iowa. In particular, we plan on expanding our social media reach and producing stories that better reach Iowans where they’re already at online. We are hiring for several positions. See…
