Polk County Democrats Steak Fry 2026 – photo credit: Iowa Capital Dispatch

Props to Laura Belin at Bleeding Heartland for covering the candidates’ entire speeches. I don’t know of another news source that covers more than a snippet, if that, except for The Des Moines Register state fair soapbox speeches. So please go to the Bleeding Heartland YouTube channel and like and share candidate speeches with your network. There are also a number of shorter reels that are of interest there and worth sharing.

Nate Willems is a Democrat running for Iowa Attorney General. Currently the office is held by a MAGA Republican Brenna Bird. He is great and we need to defeat her. Every vote is going to matter in these races so please give him a listen then prepare to volunteer, donate, vote, etc., whatever you can do.  https://www.natewillems.com/

Ryan Peterman, Democrat running for Secretary of State, office currently held by Republican Paul Pate who complied with Trump DOJ’s request and handed over our voter data even though he didn’t have to by law. Brenna Bird gave him the green light.  https://petermanforiowa.com/

Taylor Wettach, Democrat running for Iowa State Auditor, Rob Sand’s current job.  Wettach left his job as a lawyer with a large DC firm when they capitulated to Trump demands and agreed to provide Trump with free legal services. A vote for Taylor Wettach is a vote for integrity.  https://wettachforiowa.com/

And finally, check out this reel showing one of many reasons why Brenna Bird must go. She made it sound like people in Iowa are voting illegally right and left in massive numbers. Then she proclaims as if we didn’t know, that it is ILLEGAL and specifically mentions when non-citizens do it it is a FELONY! A SERIOUS CRIME!

Well, of course it is, but why did Donald Trump need Iowans’ voter data?

Not that she minds convicted felons as long as their last name is Trump.  There is virtually no illegal voting happening in Iowa. Bird must have darted away before the reporter had a chance to challenge her on her string of misleading statements but as usual, Republicans are making stuff up that sounds reasonable and rational but is based on faulty premises in order to mislead. Trump is the one who lost 62 court cases where he claimed fraud and election stealing. Trump is the one who tried to overturn the election he lost and still gets Republicans to say it was stolen. Trump is the one who led supporters to an attempted violent overthrow of our government on January 6, 2020.

The Jan. 6 insurrection was a violent mob attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, aimed at stopping Congress from certifying the 2020 election results that Joe Biden won. – AI

Republicans want to keep us from knowing what they are up to by making false claims that non-citizens are rampantly voting illegally.  It’s not the case but it did happen – once.

 Only one individual has been convicted of voting illegally in Iowa as a result of recent investigations into noncitizen voting, although there have been other cases with mixed outcomes. Overall, investigations have led to a very small number of prosecutions compared to the total votes cast in elections. – AI

You probably actually remember the one conviction likely referred to above.  In 2024 a spouse of a REPUBLICAN politician in Iowa’s 4th district was convicted by a jury and sent to prison for voter fraud. Here is a link to the strange tale that I found on good old fashioned Google.  https://www.thegazette.com/iowa-gop-politician-s-wife-sent-to-prison-for-voter-fraud/.html

“Prosecutors said Taylor used the ballots to fraudulently generate votes for husband Jeremy Taylor’s unsuccessful bid in the Republican primary for a seat in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District. The month after his primary loss, he successfully ran for Woodbury County Supervisor and still holds the position.

Jeremy Taylor, a former state legislator, was identified in court documents as an unindicted co-conspirator but was not charged with a crime.”  Gazette

So it seems when it comes to voter fraud Republicans are the ones with a record. They

Very glad this question got asked of Bird. She didn’t answer the question posed as to why twenty court cases have supported states who refused to comply. Hoping someone is able to get a follow up in on camera in the future. Rs are practiced at evading the press. When they are forced to talk to the press, they count on their deceptive statements being the last word. Bird likely allowed the question for the purpose of getting the big lie out there.

My question would be yes, but what does what you just said have to do with Trump grabbing our voter data?