Team Starting Line

The US Senate voted to pass the Respect for Marriage Act on Tuesday, the first step in protecting marriages between same-sex and interracial couples at the federal level.  The vote to pass the bill was bipartisan: 61 to 36. Every Democratic senator voted “yes,” and they were joined by a number of Republicans including Iowa’s…

Tuesday’s election results were a mixed bag for public school advocates in Iowa; however, one highlight for many was Democrat Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott’s defeat of Republican Sen. Jake Chapman. “I’m going to change my middle name to bright spot,” Trone Garriott joked. “The first election was the same thing. It was awful for everyone…

Republicans cruised to large victories in multiple statewide races Tuesday evening, while also defending their three congressional districts and maybe capturing all four. Zach Nunn claimed victory Tuesday night, although incumbent Democratic Rep. Cindy Axne is waiting to ensure all votes are counted in a race separated by only 2,000 votes. Republicans also added to…

Crab Town, IA <p>Real or fake?</p> Real Fake Boring, IA <p>Real or fake?</p> Real Fake Niceville, IA <p>Real or fake?</p> Real Fake Jamaica, IA <p>Real or fake?</p> Real Fake What Cheer, IA <p>Real or fake?</p> Real Fake Hard Scratch, IA <p>Real or fake?</p> Real Fake Cookietown, IA <p>Real or fake?</p> Real Fake Diagonal, IA <p>Real…

The man who killed two women before turning the gun on himself in Ames had assaulted and threatened to “murder” the mother of his young son five years earlier, according to court documents. She worried he would follow through with it because he had a gun, an eerily prescient warning about what was to come…

The June 7 primary is fast approaching, when Iowa Democratic voters will decide which of three candidates will be their party’s nominee to take on Sen. Chuck Grassley. In the final weeks, Abby Finkenauer, Mike Franken and Glenn Hurst have traveled all over the state to make their final pitches to voters. And the Iowa…

At his third public town hall meeting in as many days, Sen. Chuck Grassley speculated that Dr. Anthony Fauci will resign rather than face a Senate Health Committee chaired by Sen. Rand Paul. “You ought to see Dr. Paul fighting with Dr. Fauci, right on television and making a big deal out of it,” Grassley…

Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican in Iowa, the way races played out up and down the ballot Tuesday night was surprising.  The “blue wave” Democrats were counting on after four years of President Trump was in fact a red one that swept through the Des Moines suburbs and former union strongholds in…

Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican in Iowa, the way races played out up and down the ballot Tuesday night was surprising.  The “blue wave” Democrats were counting on after four years of President Trump was in fact a red one that swept through the Des Moines suburbs and former union strongholds in…

With just 17 days until election day, six-figure ad buys have begun popping up across Iowa’s major media markets for Iowa House races — in total, Starting Line found $2.2 million worth of buys on network TV for state legislative races for the House in the first three weeks of October. While both parties will…