Iowa Senate Democrats

The June 7 primary election purge by the Iowa Republican Party of legislators who support Iowa’s public schools is bad news for the 9 out of 10 Iowa kids who attend Iowa's public schools--and their families.

“GOP voters rejected not three but six of those (anti-private school voucher) incumbents, opting several times to replace veteran lawmakers with brand-new candidates on the Nov. ballot...

"Before that, only two incumbent Republican state representatives had lost re-election to a primary challenger in the previous 20 years.”

Incumbents shown the door in historic GOP state primary

Two weeks ago, in the wake of the failure of school choice legislation in the Iowa House of Representatives, I wrote that after having passed on their chance to make incredible reforms to Iowa’s education system, some members of the Iowa House Republican caucus were going to have to fight to keep their jobs. For some of those legislators, that fight has come to an end, five months before the Nov. general election.

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GOP voters rejected not three but six of those incumbents, opting several times to replace veteran lawmakers with brand-new candidates on the Nov. ballot. Before that, only two incumbent Republican state representatives had lost re-election to a primary challenger in the previous 20 years. By tripling that number in a single election, Republican voters in those districts sent a message to their party’s candidates and elected officials alike: If you won’t advocate for the policies we want, we’ll find someone who will.

Those candidates and officials now have a much clearer view of where those voters stand on issues such as Education Savings Accounts, Gov. Reynolds’ plan to let Iowa families direct a portion of their child’s per-pupil allotment education funding to private educational expenses. That’s more than evident based on which of the Republicans survived their primaries — and which did not. Rep. Eddie Andrews of Johnston, for example, was an enthusiastic supporter of school choice. He defeated his primary challenger, Brett Nelson, carrying over 84 percent of the vote.

Other incumbents weren’t on board, and it cost them. The race between Reps. Dean Fisher of Montour and Dave Maxwell of Gibson was one of the three races pitting two incumbent Republicans against each other in a newly-drawn House District 53. Maxwell was opposed to school choice and lost re-election to Fisher, garnering only 37 percent of the vote.

more...https://www.thegazette.com/staff-columnists/incumbents-shown-the-door-in-historic-gop-state-primary/