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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Post-Election Soap Opera Unfolds In Warren County “Hit Piece”
Several Iowa Republicans are facing a serious ethics investigation after a participant in their self-described “hit piece” against Representative Scott Ourth ratted them out to the Iowa Ethics Board. The case revolves around Republican candidate Rebel Snodgrass, his volunteers and former Democratic Representative Dan Kelley’s involvement in a slanderous mailer sent to households in Warren…
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Todd Prichard Elected Leader Of Iowa House Democrats
House Democrats elected Todd Prichard as their new minority leader this afternoon. The Democratic legislators gathered in Des Moines at the Statehouse for their post-election caucus, choosing their new leadership group for the next session after Mark Smith decided to not run for reelection for the party’s top spot in the House. Democrats also elected…
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House Democrats Get It
According to a report in the Cedar Rapids Gazette, Todd Prichard is on track to be the next leader for the Iowa House Democrats. That’s a very good thing. Democrats in Iowa face a lot of challenges as they head into another two years of all-Republican control of state government. The party made important gains…
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Ep71: Statehouse Election Recaps
Iowa Starting Line Podcast host Pat Rynard and former legislator Nate Willems recap all the races for the Iowa House and Iowa Senate, and look ahead to see where Democrats go from here to regain the majority.
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Who Will Run Against Joni Ernst In 2020?
The postmortems of the 2018 election are still being written, but that’s not stopping anyone from speculating and planning for Iowa’s 2020 Senate race. That’s actually typically what happens immediately after any election – winners plot out their next longterm moves and losers consider if they still have the fire in them to make another…
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Mark Smith Won’t Seek Reelection As House Dem Leader
Representative Mark Smith will not seek another term as House Minority Leader, Starting Line has learned from multiple Democratic sources. He announced his decision yesterday in an email to fellow Democratic House members. It’s an unexpected changing of the guard after Democrats picked up a net gain of five or six seats on Tuesday, one…
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Ep70: Post-Election Reactions And Analysis
Iowa Starting Line Podcast host Pat Rynard walks you through the good, bad and depressing from Iowa’s election night on Tuesday. We cover the statewide and congressional races, looking at what it means long-term for Iowa politics.
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In Iowa, The Trump Era Realignment Intensifies
Two waves hit Iowa on Tuesday. Unfortunately for Democrats, the red one was just a little bit stronger and in just the right places for Republicans to win statewide and in specific state legislative seats. The election results continued the trend of intensifying polarization in Iowa and national politics, exacerbating both parties’ weaknesses and strengths…
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The Most Shocking Number From Iowa’s Election Night
Democrats were feeling good early on last night. Cindy Axne and Abby Finkenauer had both made history in their congressional victories. J.D. Scholten was actually leading Steve King. Democrats swept a series of Iowa House races in the Des Moines suburbs. Fred Hubbell jumped out to a big lead when Polk County came in fast.…
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Republicans Retain Full Control Of Iowa Government
Republicans will continue to run all of Iowa government following tonight’s elections after a blue wave failed to reach Iowa and Kim Reynolds held off Fred Hubbell’s challenge. Reynolds currently leads by about two percentage points, but several news outlets have called the race for the governor. While numbers are still coming in, the key…
