TopicsPosts by Laura Belin
Trump already making excuses for Feenstra endorsement
President Donald Trump now says he wasn’t “given the proper information” before he endorsed U.S. Representative Randy Feenstra for governor, days before Iowa’s primary election. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on June 11, Trump bragged about his “amazing track record” in GOP primaries, claiming, “Every time I endorse, they win.” A journalist followed up to ask whether the…Read More
Why Iowa won’t join the gerrymandering stampede
President Donald Trump got the ball rolling when he demanded that Texas adopt a new map creating five more Republican-held U.S. House seats. The U.S. Supreme Court escalated the redistricting “arms race” by blowing up what remains of the Voting Rights Act. Since the summer of 2025, nine GOP-controlled states and two states with Democratic trifectas have either adopted new…Read More
Chuck Grassley’s revealing, unscripted moment
Iowa’s longest-serving member of Congress forgot that every mic is potentially a hot mic. What Senator Chuck Grassley blurted out during a Judiciary Committee hearing this week highlighted an unwritten rule for Republicans: they must humor President Donald Trump’s lies and delusions. “What would be wrong if they said Biden won?” For those who haven’t seen the viral moment from…Read More
“Magical moments”: Iowans reflect on Jesse Jackson’s 1988 campaign
“He had an amazing ability to stay focused on what was important,” John Norris remembered at a March 7 gathering for Iowans who were involved with Reverend Jesse Jackson’s 1988 presidential campaign. The group came to the Machinists’ Hall in Des Moines to swap stories before watching a livestream of Jackson’s “Homegoing Celebration of Life” at Rainbow PUSH in Chicago.…Read More