There’s been another leadership shakeup at the statehouse.
Senate Republicans have elected a new leader: Senator Paul McKinley of Chariton. "I believe Iowans want to reclaim their government and have closer contact to it and reduce the runaway spending that we are experiencing," McKinley says. "Likewise I believe Iowa voters want for us to remove barriers from job creation instead of erecting barriers."
Republicans lost two more seats in the Iowa Senate in this month’s election and Republicans who were elected to the Senate voted to replace Senate Republican Leader Ron Wieck of Sioux City. McKinley, the new Senate G.O.P. leader, says there’s no way to go but up for Republicans in the senate.
"You know, I can’t foresee the future, but my estimate is that we will make great strides over the next two years by working hard, by recruiting the right kind of candidates," McKinley says. "I believe the Iowa public strongly believes in the Republican principles that we all espouse and we will make that message clear."
McKinley says there’s an opening for the Republican message, especially when it comes to the education system. "I believe that Iowa voters are disappointed in an increasingly expensive education budget that has left far too many kids behind foreign competitors," he says.
Last week, Republicans in the Iowa House replaced longtime G.O.P. leader Christopher Rants with a new leader — Representative Kraig Paulsen of Hiawatha.