IOWA DEMOCRATS WIN SPECIAL ELECTION IN TRUMP +22 DISTRICT

[Skidmore]

Some good news and a reminder that Democrats are just not found in urban areas.



https://iowastartingline.com/2017/08/08/iowa-democrats-win-special-election-in-trump-22-district/

Iowa Democrats pulled off an impressive and important victory in a Southeast Iowa special election this evening, boosting the party’s hopes that 2018 could be a bounce-back year. Democratic veterinarian Phil Miller of Fairfield comfortably defeated Republican farmer Travis Harris of Davis County, 4,021 to 3,324 (about 55% to 45%), thanks largely to a massive victory in his hometown of Jefferson County. That means Democrats will hold on to a key rural swing district that Donald Trump won in November by 22 points.

Miller will fill out the remainder of Curt Hansen’s term in the Iowa House for District 82, which includes Jefferson, Davis and Van Buren counties. Hansen passed away in mid-June, who himself won the seat in a 2009 special election. He was one of the few Democrats to still represent a rural district in the Iowa Legislature, and today’s special election was seen as an important test for whether local Democratic candidates could still win in Trump-leaning areas of the state.

While cultural issues like that may have contributed to Trump’s victory in Iowa in 2016, the Republican Party here had not been so brazen in their advertising on issues like bathrooms in the past. Many LGBTQ advocates worried that had the Republican candidate been successful tonight, it would give the GOP incentive to push for anti-transgender policies at the Statehouse next session and run on that issue in 2018. Instead, many Republican political consultants and party leaders may now second-guess whether that’s a winning issue to run on. Miller won a massive victory in Jefferson County, where the controversy burned the hottest, racking up a margin far larger than Hanson’s there in 2009....more

[louis c]

1. KR

[DinahMoeHum]

2. Local, local, local. . .

. . .all politics is local.

[Vinca]

3. No pressure, but at this point the country's existence depends on Democrats.

[GaryCnf]

4. All victories are appreciated and important

and this is a textbook example of all politics being local.

Phil is a textbook native son of the largest county in the district running against a fool who tried to nationalize a local election.

More importantly he was running for the seat held until his death by a beloved Democrat, Curt Hanson.

Even though Miller's win doesn't show a trend, it does show a path to victory.

[SunSeeker]

5. K & R

[ATL Ebony]

6. K&R Congrats Iowa #22