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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Steve King’s Racism Emboldened By Kim Reynolds, Donald Trump
Iowa is facing a crisis. Ever since Donald Trump announced his candidacy for the White House in 2015, instances of public racist and bigoted attacks in Iowa have soared. Hispanic Perry basketball players mocked at a game. High school students in Creston dressed up in KKK outfits. An Ames high school locker room vandalized with…
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It’s Time For Iowa Republicans To Start Panicking
The 2018 election may still be a long ways off in a political climate that can change rapidly on a daily basis, but all the data points for a good Democratic year in Iowa are starting to stack up. A string of special elections for state legislative seats have consistently seen massive margin swings to…
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Democrat Nearly Pulls Off Upset In Trump +41 Senate District In NW Iowa
Iowa Democrats nearly pulled off the upset to end all upsets by coming surprisingly close in a Northwest Iowa special election for Senate District 3 tonight. In a district where Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton 68% to 27%, Democrat Todd Wendt fell to Republican Representative Jim Carlin by just 55% to 45%. Where Trump won…
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How Iowa Caucus Strategies Could Change With New Unity Commission Rules
The Democratic National Committee’s Unity Reform Commission voted in favor today of recommendations to the party’s nominating system, which will mean major changes to how the Iowa Caucus operates (its first place status in the process remains safe). The DNC as a whole still needs to vote on the rule changes, but most expect them…
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Nurses United Union Endorse Cathy Glasson, Pete D’Alessandro
Two Iowa Democratic candidates pushing progressive policies in high-profile 2018 races got a boost today from the National Nurses United union. The labor group that backed Bernie Sanders in a very visible way during the 2016 primary interviewed several candidates for Iowa’s gubernatorial and 3rd congressional district races a few months ago. They decided to…
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Chuck Grassley Dropped From Conference Committee After Comments
Senator Chuck Grassley took to Twitter this morning to personally apologize to President Donald Trump about not being to be able to fight for his tax plan on the House-Senate conference committee. Iowa’s senior senator was apparently dropped from the committee that will draft the final legislation that gets sent to Trump’s desk. @realDonaldTrump I'm…
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Iowans Start Taking Empty Bottles Of Booze To Chuck Grassley’s Offices
Non-millionaire Iowans who clearly have wasted too much of their hard-earned money on booze, women and movies descended upon Chuck Grassley’s offices today to deliver empty bottles of alcohol to their esteemed senator. Actually, it was a protest organized by several progressive groups to express voters’ outrage over Grassley’s recent insulting comments aimed at working…
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Joni Ernst Sits By Silently As Trump Endorses Alleged Child Molester
Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, who has led efforts to combat sexual assault in the military, sat quietly next to President Donald Trump today as he endorsed a man accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. At a meeting in the White House were senators were discussing NAFTA trade policy with the President, Trump responded to…
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Fred Hubbell Knocks Kim Reynolds’ Corporate Tax Handouts In New TV Ad
Fred Hubbell is releasing a new TV ad today for his gubernatorial bid, taking aim at Governor Kim Reynolds’ $20 million tax credit deal to bring just 50 jobs to Iowa. In it, the Des Moines businessman knocks Republicans’ continuing trend of emptying the state’s budget by paying out tens of millions of tax dollars…
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“Not One Penny” Group Aims Ads At David Young, Rod Blum For Tax Bill
Iowa Republican Congressmen David Young and Rod Blum will start feeling the pressure for their votes on a tax bill that targeted huge breaks to the wealthiest Americans this week. Not One Penny, a progressive coalition group formed earlier this year to push back against Republicans’ tax plans, will start running ads in Iowa criticizing…
