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Iowa voters have kicked NOM’s carpetbagging butt. According to unofficial results, Democrat Curt Hanson has beat NOM-backed Republican Stephen Burgmeier 3,932 to 3,825.
As you will recall, NOM barged into Iowa and dumped $86,000 on the local anti-equality candidate in this special election to fill a state legislative seat. The contest is seen as a test of whether marriage equality can be used as an electoral wedge issue in the state.
Just a few days after the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board sent NOM a sharply-worded worning, One Iowa and the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa filed a formal complaint against NOM with the Ethics Board. 
“NOM’s last minute, and desperate campaign directly violates Iowa law and is right out of their deceitful playbook,” said Carolyn Jenison, Executive Director of One Iowa. “NOM has a history of funneling secret money to fund divisive political campaigns across the country with little regard for laws allowing voters to know who is bankrolling those campaigns.”
Sound familiar, Mainers, Californians?
“We reject the use of divisive fear-based appeals to influence Iowa elections and believe transparency is vital to a healthy democratic process,” said Connie Ryan Terrell, Executive Director of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa Action Fund.
It looks like the majority of Iowans in the 90th legislative district also reject NOM’s divisive fear-mongering carpetbaggery. Take home message for NOM: Iowa ain’t for sale.P.S. I couldn’t resist adding in this description of the legislative district. Sounds like an intriguing place!
The district is made up of an eclectic mix of historic riverfront towns that have retained much of their 1880s look, Amish settlements, century farms that have remained in the same families for generations, and one larger town that couldn’t be more different from the rest of the district: Fairfield, the Jefferson County seat, has about 1,500 votes at stake. About one-third of the population there practices Transcendental Meditation, a relaxation technique popularized by Maharishi Mehesh Yogi, founder of the local Maharishi University of Management (M.U.M.).
18 Comments
BRAVO Iowa!And maggie and brian
http://static.open.salon.com/f…
This is a very nice…….…….turn of events. The results (107 votes) is a little too close for comfort. But hopefully this is just one of many failures yet to come from NOM.
AwesomeWay to go, Iowa! It’s close but we’re winning!
the good news isthat because of the nature of the district, it was expected to be a squeaker anyways. so nom certainly didn’t tip the balance any towards the hater, or he’d have won.
Fairfield is quite an unusual townand Jefferson County came through for Curt Hanson in a big way–he came out of that county with a 600 vote margin, even though the Republican candidate is a county supervisor. The Republican ran up a 500-vote margin in rural Van Buren County (which doesn’t contain a single stoplight). Only four votes separated the two candidates in the portion of Wapello County that’s in this district.
I am so thrilledI haven’t been very worried about marriage equality hurting Iowa Democrats, but if it was going to hurt us in any election, it would be in this kind of election: special election (usually w/low turnout) in the middle of a deep recession only a few months after the Iowa Supreme Court ruling.
One of the collateral benefits of holding this seat is that it will be easier for the Democratic leadership in the Iowa House and Senate to hold their caucuses in line during the 2010 session. The Republicans will use every procedural trick in the book to bring a marriage amendment to a floor vote, and I was afraid that if Hanson lost this race, a bunch of Democratic legislators in tough districts would support Republicans on procedural votes related to marriage equality.
Don’t get me wrong this is goodBut how does Curt Hanson feel about a constitutional amendment to revoke marriage equality? Is he one of those “let-the-people-vote-on-civil-rights” advocates?
I’m glad to see the hate machine was struck down, but I am worried that he and a lot of other dems might support an amendment despite the fact that the Iowa congressional leadership shows all signs of being firmly in the equality camp.
tbaxfer……..……I really can’t answer that question; however, I think it would be fairly safe (notice I did say “fairly”) to believe that he is not in favor of a constitutional amendment. The reason I say this is because NOM would not have invested $86,000 into his opponents campaign in the form of advertising.
Oh Iowa I could kiss you!Truly my Field of Dreams!
Actually his opponent was Which is why NOM supported him.
Desmoinesdem, how do you explain Wapello County?I thought that of the 3 counties that comprise HD 90, Wapello was the most reliably Democratic, and that Jefferson would be the battleground. Instead, Hanson carried Jefferson handily but actually lost Wapello by 3 votes.
The turnout seemed very light in Wapello, so I am thinking that the get-out-the-vote effort there was a little weak on the part of Hanson.
Any insight?
The fruits of NOM’s efforts1. Blow 86 grand.
2. Humiliate yourself by elevating the importance of the special election as “critical” to your efforts to “reclaim Iowa” and then failing to deliver
3. Get yourself embroiled in an ethics investigation and possible campaign finance violations.
Not bad for a week’s work. Maybe the Washington Post will do a story on this – not.
His position isHe supports letting the people vote on the issue. He would not say how he would vote on an amendment. This is what he said at a recent debate.
I think this is really the best he could do under the circumstances. The reality is that our best chance is to keep an amendment from coming to the floor, and if it does come to the floor, to have the Dem leadership get Dem votes lined up against it. This is what worked in MA. So ultimately, I think Hanson will vote the right way on approving a popular vote, assuming it comes to that.
Maggie Should Be AshamedFor somebody so worried about “the children”, the sow could have at least spared of a few pennies of that 86 grand on, I don’t know…..some groceries or new schoolclothes for those children she USES.
only a small part of Wapelloabout 15 percent of the county is in House district 90. Those are rural precincts. The most Democratic areas of Wapello County (in and around the city of Ottumwa) are in a different Iowa House district.
Hanson was a popular teacher in the largest town in Jefferson County for more than 40 years, which counts for a lot.
I think this is a dodgeI think the Des Moines Register misinterpreted what Hanson said about letting people vote. We have a ballot initiative that’s already on the ballot in 2010, which would allow people to vote to convene a Constitutional Convention, which could totally rewrite the constitution. I think that when Hanson said people should be able to vote, he was referring to the ability of people to vote to call a Constitutional Convention if they want to (which by the way the right wing is not aggressively pursuing).
I trust the people at One Iowa and Fairness Fund PAC to do their due diligence, and I don’t think they would have endorsed Hanson if he were willing to vote for a constitutional amendment on marriage in the Iowa House.
Whoa there cowboy.The winner’s position is ‘Let the people vote’, and we’re celebrating?
I’m all for happiness and joy that NOM wasted $86,000 that they apparently violated IA law to use on this race. I’m delighted that the attempt to buy victory was a resounding failure and it was defeated by a well-organized door-knocking and phone banking campaign. I deeply understand the strategic import of a Dem majority to maintain the Varnum win.
Further, the impact for those of us living in the Limbo States is a huge win–headlines make momentum, and the headline reads ‘Democrat backed by marriage equality LGBT org beats Rep backed by NOM, in Iowa’. The message to our friends in legislatures is a strong one.
But the best he could give us, in exchange for a GOTV effort that arguably won him the race, is pro-amendment and anti-equality?
Hmm. Three cheers for OneIowa, no cheers for Hanson until he earns them.
you should come visitIowa is lovely for September weddings!