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Secretary of State Pate says hackers cannot alter votes on paper ballots

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Secretary of State Paul Pate.

Secretary of State Paul Pate — the commisioner of Iowa elections — said Tuesday there is no way for hackers to alter votes in Iowa because every one of the state’s voters cast a paper ballot.

“In Iowa, we don’t vote on the internet…so you can’t be voting from Moscow, Russia. You can’t. The only ones that I would let vote from Moscow are the folks from Moscow, Iowa,” Pate said. “That’s it.”

Pate spoke yesterday on The Des Moines Register’s Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair. Pate warned the crowd “bad actors” on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook may try to sow doubt about election results.

“(They) will use propaganda to create that doubt in your minds. They want to undermine so you don’t believe the voting results…We cannot allow them to do that,” Pate said. “We work every day — the (county) auditors, the poll workers, myself…Homeland Security — we’re dealing with all these partners to try and make sure we do the very best to give you that assurance and we’re not going to stop.”

Pate, a Republican, served one term as secretary of state in the 1990s and returned to office in 2015. He is seeking reelection this year to a third term as secretary of state. His Democratic opponent, Deidre DeJear. Last week, DeJear accused Pate of not doing enough to secure voter registration information that is computerized, as recent news from the investigation of Russia’s attempt to influence the 2016 election revealed Russian operatives visited the websites of some Iowa counties.

Pate said new voter ID requirements will address that, as voters show a driver’s license, a military or tribal ID, a passport or voter registration card at their polling place.

“It gives us the crucial information to make sure you’re voting in the right location and you are who you say you are,” Pate said. “Ninety-two of our 99 counties already have E-poll books and this card or one type of ID that we’ve authorized are the key to it.”

The voter ID requirement takes effect in 2019. For the 2018 election, Iowans who do not show an ID at their polling place may sign an oath verifying their identity and will be allowed to cast a ballot.

Reynolds says electing her will K.I.M. — Keep Iowa Moving

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Governor Kim Reynolds.

Governor Kim Reynolds today said the state’s low unemployment rate and the tax cuts she signed into law this spring show Iowa is on the right track with Republican leadership.

“And I’ve got something to tell you: we we’re just getting started,” Reynolds said. “We are never going to be satisfied with the status quo. There is so much potential and capacity that exists in this state and we’re excited about continuing the momentum.”

Reynolds spoke late this afternoon on The Des Moines Register’s Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair. She did not mention her Democratic opponent Fred Hubbell by name, but did blast Democrats in general.

“We have a lot of positive things happening in Iowa and I know the other side wants to think everything’s doom and gloom and Iowa’s going to hell in a handbasket and I’m sorry. It is not,” Reynolds said and, as the crowd cheered, she continued: “No, it’s not!”

Reynolds has been governor for about 14-and-a-half months and emphasized the history made when she took the oath of office.

Governor Kim Reynolds spoke at the Iowa State Fair Tuesday.

“And today serve Iowans at the highest level as the first female governor of the great state of Iowa,” Reynolds said, to applause and cheers.

Reynolds touted the new state law authorizing “health benefit plans” to be sold by the Iowa Farm Bureau as a cheaper alternative to traditional insurance. Reynolds said it’s part of the “bold and ambitious agenda” that cleared the 2018 legislature.

“Keep Iowa Moving — K.I.M. — in the right direction,” Reynolds said near the end of her speech. “If you listen to what my opponent wants to do, he wants to reverse every single positive thing that we’ve done.”

Reynolds told the crowd her husband, Kevin, had an appendectomy at 4 a.m. Tuesday morning. He was released from the hospital by Tuesday afternoon.

“I just want to thank the doctors, the surgeons and the nurses who did such a phenomenal job of taking care of Kevin,” Reynold said. “He’s back home already and he’s going hunting in two weeks, so that’s all he’s cared about. He wants to make sure he’s in good shape and can head off and go elk hunting.”

Kevin Reynolds retired a year ago after working as a district conservationist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Steyer tells Fair crowd impeachment about patriotism, not partisanship

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Tom Steyer

The California billionaire who has been running TV ads and holding town hall meetings to talk about impeaching President Trump says it’s all about Trump’s “lawlessness” rather than the policies Trump’s pursuing.

Tom Steyer spoke this afternoon on The Des Moines Register’s Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair. “I think we have a wreckless, dangerous and lawless president and every American patriot a duty to speak out if he or she believes that and a duty to stand up for our country,” Steyer said. “It’s a question of patriotism, not partisanship.”

Steyer said Trump’s number one impeachable offense is getting money from foreign adversaries who are staying in the hotels and golf clubs Trump owns. Steyer’s political action committee has been registering voters in Iowa since 2014, targeting people under the age of 35 who are half as likely to vote as people in other age groups. Steyer isn’t saying whether these efforts are a prelude to his own presidential campaign in 2020.

“We’re running what I think with our partners is the largest grassroot organization in the United States and we are totally focused on November 6, 2018,” Steyer said. “…I promise the day after Election Day, I will be working full-time for justice in America…could be a lot of different things.”

Steyer said as of today, his organization has contact information for 5.6 million Americans, only a third of whom vote in non-presidential elections. Steyer said increasing participation among those who don’t normally vote in mid-term elections will be key for Democrats in 2018.

First Gentleman has appendix removed after becoming sick overnight

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Kevin Reynolds (file photo)

The husband of Governor Kim Reynolds is recovering after an overnight emergency surgery.

Kevin Reynolds was suffering from stomach pain, according to the governor’s office, and was taken to the hospital. Doctors determined he had appendicitis. The state’s “First Gentleman” had surgery to remove his appendix.

Kevin Reynolds retired in March of last year after 36 years working as a soil conservationist and district conservationist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The two married in 1982 and have three daughters.

 

Controversy develops over Iowa State Fair Veterans Parade entry

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The Grandstand at the Iowa State Fair.

The Annual Veterans Parade at the Iowa State Fair turned controversial Monday when a veterans group made up of Democrats was barred from the event.

Members of the Iowa Democratic Veterans Caucus say they marched in the parade in 2008 and 2015 and were issued credentials for this year, but the Iowa State Fair Veterans Committee which organizes the parade reversed that recently.

Committee member Daniel Gannon says he doesn’t recall the group’s 2008 appearance and he says they “slipped” into the parade in 2015.

“The parade can’t be about politics. It’s about supporting our veterans,” Gannon saus. “I don’t care if you’re a Democrat, a Republican or an Independent. Everybody should support our veterans.”

The Iowa State Fair Veterans Committee that organies the annual parade down the Iowa State Fair’s grand concourse is not affiliated with either the fair or state government. Governor Kim Reynolds attended the parade and stands by the committee’s decision.

“It’s never been partisan. It never should be partisan,” Reynolds says. “It should be about saluting our veterans and that’s what I saw taking place.”

Democrats say if the parade is to be non-partisan, then the anti-war group called Veterans for Peace and Republican Secretary of State Paul Pate, who is not a veteran, should not have been allowed to participate in yesterday’s parade.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Joyce Russell/Photo courtesy of the Iowa State Fair.)

Iowans tell EPA chief president made E15 promise, it’s time to deliver

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Andrew Wheeler

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s acting administrator met privately with Iowa commodity group leaders at the Iowa State Fair today — but Andrew Wheeler told reporters afterwards there is no decision yet on regulations that would allow a higher blend of ethanol to be sold year-round.

“I can’t tell you the timeline,” Wheeler said late this afternoon. “We are mindful of needing to have a decision on that before the growing season next year.”

Wheeler seemed to indicate EPA guidelines that would approve the sale of E15 year-round would be coupled with some sort of accommodation for the oil industry.

“We’re certainly looking to see what we can do overall as a part of a larger effort to bring more certainty around the RFS and we’re open to that and I’ve been meeting with different groups around the country — different associations that represent the ethanol people, the refiners — trying to figure out what we can do ,” Wheeler said.

Congressman Young’s office sent out this picture of the roundtable with David Wheeler.

“The important thing is the Trump Administration wants to move forward with implementing the RFS (in) both the spirit and the letter of the law.”

The Renewable Fuels Standard was established by congress and requires the EPA to annually set a mandatory production level for ethanol and other biofuels. Republican Governor Kim Reynolds criticized previous EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt for granting waivers that let some oil refiners get around the federal ethanol mandate. Reynolds made the same point today as she stood next to the EPA’s acting director at a brief news conference.

“Fifteen million gallons needs to mean 15 million gallons and I think that’s the message that was delivered today in a very constructive manner,” Reynolds said “And that is something that the Adminsitration and EPA could weigh in on that would have an immediate impact on the price of corn and infuse some optimism and certainty into the market.”

Acting EPA leader Wheeler shakes hands with a man at the Iowa State Fair.

Iowa Farm Bureau president Craig Hill was among the few dozen ag-industry leaders who had a private discussion with Wheeler. Hill said the meeting was “constructive,” but the Iowans didn’t get the answers they were hoping for.

“It’s been Christmas for the oil industry on every one of these deals. Where’s our deal?” Hill said. “…We’ve not gotten a thing.”

Hill said farmers and the ethanol industry appreciate that the EPA has met the deadline for setting the federal production mandate for ethanol, but they’re frustrated the waivers granted to oil refineries has effectively reduced the mandated level of ethanol production.

Congressman David Young, a Republican from Van Meter, thanked Wheeler for being “accessible” and listening to Iowa farm groups who’ve been worried about EPA foot-dragging on ethanol-related issues.

“Because of what President Trump said in promising E15, thinking it was a fabulous idea, there’s an expectation that’s going to happen,” Young said.

Young told reporters if the EPA doesn’t figure out how to authorize the sale of E15 year-round, a bipartisan coalition in congress is working on legislation to make it happen.

To win, Loebsack says Democrats must run local campaigns

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Dave Loebsack

Congressman Dave Loebsack says Democratic candidates would do well to focus on local issues if the party hopes to capitalize on what might be a “blue wave” this November.

“Going forward, the best thing that the Democratic Party could do would be to recognize that the Midwest is not San Francisco, it’s not Long Island or Queens,” Loebsack says. “It’s completely different.”

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is from San Francisco and the 28-year-old Democratic Socialist who beat a House Democratic Leader in a June Primary is from Queens. Loebsack says Democrats running for congress have to worry about their own districts.

“That’s what I tell folks in Washington, D.C. all the time, too,” Loebsack says. “They can come up with whatever them come up with, but I need to talk about the issues and respond to the folks in my district, what’s affecting them every day.”

In 2006, Loebsack beat a 30-year incumbent to win a seat in the U.S. House. There are three Democrats in Iowa running against Republican incumbent congressmen this year, but Loebsack is reluctant to suggest his campaign strategy 12 years ago would work for them.

“I really don’t give a Iot of advice to people because I really believe that those people running in those areas probably know their districts pretty well,” Loebsack says. “I think part of the problem with my party is that they talk about a message, they talk about issues and all the rest, but those are not the same around the rest of the country.”

Loebsack, a former Cornell College professor, is seeking a seventh term in the U.S. House. Loebsack says Democrats “have real opportunities” in 2018, but he’s not going to guess whether Democrats can win enough seats to take control of the U.S. House from Republicans.

Loebsack spoke with reporters this afternoon following his speech on The Des Moines Register’s Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair.

Porter says partisan “B.S.” steers campaign away from solutions

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Jake Porter

The Libertarian candidate for governor says it’s unlikely he will win, but with nearly three dozen other LIbertarians running in Iowa in 2018, this election hopefully will be a party-building exercise. There are about 11,000 Iowans who are registered Libertarian voters today and Jake Porter hopes to push that past 20,000 by November.

“Libertarians believe that you should be able to do whatever you like so long as you’re not harming anybody else,” Porter says. “You don’t have a right to harm your neighbors. You don’t have a right to harm your neighbors’ property, but you should have the right to live as you wish.”

Porter spoke this morning on The Des Moines Register’s Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair. Porter used a barnyard term to describe the 2018 campaign conversations among Democrats and Republicans.

“You know there’s a lot of attacks right now, political attacks, partisan BS that happens,” Porter said. “…I hope that everyone around here that works at The Register has pretty tall boots, because a lot of BS being spoke, I’m sure.”

Porter singled out Governor Kim Reynolds and her fellow Republicans for charactering her Democratic opponent, Fred Hubbell, as “Fancy Fred” because he’s wealthy.

“I wish I had Fred Hubbell’s money, I’ll be honest, but we’re not going to attack him for having money…I’m going to say something nice about both of them,” Porter said. “Governor Reynolds is someone that turned her life around, I think an inspiration to a lot of Iowans. Fred Hubbell successfully ran businesses…We can say nice things about our opponents. We can be ‘Iowa Nice’ and we can still disagree on the solutions for Iowa.”

Porter supports criminal justice reform, including substance abuse treatment rather than prison time for those who commit “victimless” crimes. Porter and his Libertarian Party also oppose “corporate welfare” and favor local control of schools and livestock confinements

“These things are the important things that need to be addressed, that we need to talk about and we’re not going to do it by attacking each other, calling each other names,” Porter said. “…A different message, a different way.”

Porter is a business consultant from Council Bluffs. He vows to evaluate every state agency, with the goal of consolidating, eliminating and making activities in state government more efficient.

Challenger Axne says Congressman Young mired in ways of Washington

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Cindy Axne

Cindy Axne, the Democrat who’s challenging Republican Congressman David Young, says Iowans deserve better than the agenda being pursued by the Republican-led congress.

“Decisions that are helping corporations and the wealthy, decisions that are absolutely taking this country and this state backwards and decisions that are hurting hard-working Iowa families,” Axne says.

Axne, a small business owner, launched her bid to represent the southwest Iowa district about 15 months ago.

“Iowans are working incredibly hard and we’re playing by the rules, but Washington doesn’t have our back and we deserve better,” she says.

Axne spoke this weekend on The Des Moines Register’s Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair. She described her opponent, Congressman Young, as a politician “mired” in the ways of Washington.

“Right now he stands by idly as this administration attacks our farmers, our local economies and our overall state’s economy to be successful in agriculture and we need to send somebody out to congress who stands up for Iowans,” Axne said.

Congressman Young is scheduled to speak at the same State Fair venue on Wednesday.

Summertime events in Iowa featuring 2020 presidential prospects

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Attorney Michael Avenatti and former Iowa Lt. Gov. Patty Judge visit in Iowa State Fair livestock pavilion.

Democratic candidates weighing their prospects for the 2020 presidential race were in Iowa this weekend.

Michael Avenatti, the attorney representative an adult film star who’s suing President Trump, spoke Friday night at the annual “Wing Ding” north central Democrats held in Clear Lake.

“What I fear for this Democratic Party that I love so much is that we have a tendency to bring nail clippers to a gun fight,” Avenatti said, drawing laughter and applause from the crowd. “…I believe that our party, the Democratic Party, must be a party that fights fire with fire.”

On Saturday, New York businessman Andrew Yang visited the State Fair. Yang, who announced early this year that he was running for president, argues there will be a massive loss of jobs as the economy evolves, so the government must take steps to ensure a basic income for every American between the ages of 18 and 64.

“Which now a friend is asking me to call ‘The Tech Check,'” Yang said, in an interview with Radio Iowa as he explained the concept, “which is that every American adult, every adult in Iowa receives $1000 a month free and clear, paid by the companies that benefit the most from automation, so that people can make plans for the future with a degree of security.”

John Delaney

On Sunday, Maryland Congressman John Delaney crossed a milestone when he visited his 99th county in Iowa. Delaney, who announced he was running for president about a year ago, also toured the Iowa State Fair and delivered a campaign-style speech at The Des Moines Register’s Soapbox.

“If you want a government that will actually represent you and bring us together, then I encourage you to get on board with us,” Delaney said to conclude his remarks. “…That’s why going to 99 counties in Iowa. That’s why we’re out early because I’m a different kind of Democrat and I have a different kind of message.”

California Congressman Eric Swalwell, a native of Sac City, has visited the state seven times since early 2017. During a speech Saturday on The Des Moines Register’s Soapbox at the State Fair, Swalwell suggested the 2018 election is setting the stage for 2020.

Eric Swallwel

“We’ve got about 80-some odd days to go until we start to see change in Iowa and change in America and, along the way, we must keep resisting,” Swalwell said. “It’s your resisting that is working.”

A few other potential presidential candidates of the future are due in Iowa this week. California billionaire Tom Steyer, Montana Governor Steve Bullock and former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro are all Democrats. Vice President Mike Pence is also slated to speak at an event in Des Moines on Wednesday.