Iowa's State Government (almost) One Party System

 With the exception of State Auditor and Treasurer and discounting the State's Attorney General, largely defanged by the Party That Be, Iowa's state government is run by Republicans. They run the House, Senate, Governor's Office, and Secretary of State's Office. In actuality, the House, Senate, and Governor's offices have been in lockstep since 2017. It is not likely to change much unless Iowans gain control of their senses (and as my previous column suggests, there seems not much chance of that happening). So in a span of five years, the Republicans have managed to run the table (save the aforementioned offices that Democrats have yet to lose). 

 In 2022, you can bet that the goal will be to gain the omnipresent Tom Miller's AG's office and, probably more importantly to this crew, regain the auditor's office where Rob Sand has actually done the credible job an auditor is supposed to do--which is to point out mishandling of the public's dollars (or make sense of the non-cents). But that is not making Glorious Leader Kim and her island of broken toys under the rotunda very happy. How dare he point out that she used funds inappropriately to pay for her staff's unreported raises. That was so partisan of him to call out her partisanship. It is safe to say that Sand has a larger target on him than the retail chain by the same name has on their stores.

And this is an example of what happens when one party is entrusted to run the whole show--no checks and definitely no balances. To the citizenry of Iowa who still likes to say their liberties they prize and their rights they will maintain, um--how? You see when there is limited opposition, you kind of get a pass on legalities and ethics because, you know, you don't really need 'em since you are in charge.

You know how we don't want to become like North Korea or be one of those one-party states? Well, we kind of are. The only way out of this is to vote for change (or for a change, if you are one of those seasonal voters). Buddy, can you spare the time?