Redistricting Focus
Iowa was ahead of other states in finalizing new maps for congressional districts. Ours have been in place since late last year; others are still being discussed.
The lone Iowa congressional district currently held by Democrats has been identified as key to retaining the party’s razor-thin majority in the U.S. House.
The House Majority PAC, an outside group aligned with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is planning a seven-figure campaign to help Democrats introduce themselves to new constituents after redistricting. The program, called “Operation New Lines,” recognizes that while Democrats have come out ahead in restricting, doing much better than predicted in large part due to some odd gerrymandering, those incumbents will still have new constituents unfamiliar with their records—and that will diminish the normal incumbent advantage.
The group immediately chose Iowa Congresswoman Cindy Axne and Maine Congressman Jared Golden as recipients, with more names to be added in coming weeks.
“Operation New Lines will play a crucial role in defining Democratic candidates and introducing them to new voters before Republicans have the chance to falsely smear them,” according to PAC executive director Abby Curran Horrell. She told Politico this week that the group will invest in targeted digital and direct mail campaigns.
Axne won election, unseating first-term Republican David Young back in 2018. She turned back a challenge from Young in 2020, but her margin of victory was actually smaller than when she first won election. Now it’s a new district, with a Democrat voter registration advantage but plenty of red counties in southern Iowa. And since she is the lone Democrat in Iowa’s delegation in Washington, you can bet the current Speaker will do about anything to make sure the Republicans don’t make it a clean sweep of our state.
