Zachary Oren Smith is your friendly neighborhood reporter. He leads Starting Line’s political coverage where he investigates corruption, housing affordability and the future of work. For nearly a decade, he’s written award-winning stories for Iowa Public Radio, The Des Moines Register and Iowa City Press-Citizen. Send your tips on hard news and good food to zach@new.iowastartingline.com.
Zachary Oren Smith
Latest from Zachary Oren Smith
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Private school vouchers cost Johnston, Urbandale schools more than $1 million each in 1st year
[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”] [et_pb_row admin_label=”row”] [et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”] Johnston and Urbandale students with school vouchers pulled more than $1 million away from their public school districts in the first year of school vouchers in Iowa. Iowa’s private school voucher program is in year two of its roll out, and hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars now…
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Baccam: Nunn’s new abortion stance doesn’t match his record
Nunn says he supports abortion, contraception, and fertilization treatments. But opponent Baccam says his record says otherwise. Iowa is under a near-total abortion ban, and Democratic challenger Lanon Baccam is trying to make it US Rep. Zach Nunn’s signature issue. “Women should have the ability to make a decision if, when, and how they start…
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Bohannan pushes back on Iowa’s abortion ban, private school vouchers on the trail
Christina Bohannan is on the trail talking with students and teachers hoping to mobilize around abortion access and funding for public schools. Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan has a little over three weeks to make the case for unseating Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks. The race for Iowa’s 1st Congressional District race is going to be…
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Miller-Meeks hawks Hurricane Helene conspiracies
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa joined former President Donald Trump in spreading already-debunked claims about FEMA’s recovery efforts following Hurricane Helene. And it has a cost.
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IA-03 Debate: Baccam and Nunn face off Tuesday night
Democratic challenger Lanon Baccam faces off against Republican incumbent Zach Nunn in a televised debate tonight. Democratic challenger Lanon Baccam faces Republican US Rep. Zach Nunn. The live debate will air at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 8. Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District stretches across 21 counties in the southwestern and south-central parts of the state.…
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Bohannan, Baccam make gains: Two of Iowa’s congressional races enter ‘toss up’ territory
Political analysts are beginning to reflect what organizers on the ground have known for months. Two congressional races in Iowa are tight. Democratic challengers Christina Bohannan and Lanon Baccam have seen an updraft of volunteers and money as they take on incumbent Republicans Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn.
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Zachary Oren Smith joins Starting Line
Zachary Oren Smith joins Iowa Starting Line. He’ll lead our coverage of Iowa politics. He says he’s excited to join our crusade against cynicism across the state.
