Election Aftermath
It’s hard for Republicans to spin the results of Tuesday’s elections. The few statewide races were blue sweeps in places like New Jersey and Virginia, and even though Democrats were expected to win, the GOP had expressed a lot of optimism—which turned out to be misplaced.
No, those races are not reliable indicators of what to expect in 2026, when the whole country gets into the act. There is no way to rely on a few states out of cycle a year away and be able to predict outcomes.
But you don’t need to look further than Iowa’s own municipal and school elections this past Tuesday to get a sense that should be troubling for politicians, especially those currently in office.
If there’s anything Iowans have prided themselves on for generations, it’s been our outstanding education system. But voters shied away from education bond issues in major cities like Cedar Rapids and Dubuque, as well as smaller, more rural districts.
It could be because of the increased use of private education, instead of local public schools. It could be because the bond proposals were bloated, or perceived to be.
But it also could very well be that voters are concerned about whether they can afford any increase in their already high property taxes. Combine those fixed costs with the higher cost of living generally—from a trip to the grocery store to health care—and it’s not surprising many voters shied away from approving these measures, even if the added financial burden is only a few hundred dollars a year. A few hundred here for this, a few hundred more there for that…it all adds up far faster than our ability to increase income.
Some of us haven’t had a pay raise in years, but our expenses keep going higher and higher. The analysis of why so many bond issues failed may be no more complicated than that.
The Iowa Legislature has kicked the property-tax-reform-can down the road for years. Sure, it’s a difficult issue. But voters have said for a long time that such reform is needed. Any politician who wants to serve the public and stand for election in 2026 had better put property tax reform at the top of the to-do list. Otherwise, they’ll be on the wrong end of the next election…along with even more school bond issues.
