Pearson Draws First Challenger

Pearson Draws First Challenger

This beats a Geri Huser comeback: Democrat Joe Riding, now in the middle of a second term on the Altoona City Council, has announced as a Democrat in House District 30.

That's the turf of controversial conservative Kim Pearson, who pulled off a huge 2010 upset when she knocked off conservaDem Huser by 126 votes, with just 48.5% of the vote in a three way race.

Pearson has been a conservative first and a Republican second and has been the highest profile House freshman. She starred in a lengthy Register profile focused on her uncompromising approach.

Riding has Chamber of Commerce ties, and owns and manages a family golf course, not a bad match for this high-growth suburban area. (I have family in the district and there's not a lot of old trees out here.)

“Our current political system is broken, with too many legislators putting their own partisan ideology before the needs of their constituents,” Riding said today. “Growing up in a family business has taught me important values, like working with others to find pragmatic solutions to problems. I am running to bring some needed civility and common sense back to the statehouse for the citizens of Eastern Polk County.”

The district sheds its piece of Jasper County and pulls all the way into eastern Polk. The changes actually help Pearson: her old district had a Democratic registration edge of 1200, which drops to just 100 under the new lines.

But as I noted at District Of The Day time: "The difference between a protest vote for a relative unknown in 2010 and a vote to re-elect a controversial known quantity in 2012 will matter more than the lines." I wouldn't be surprised to see primaries in both parties for this seat. Huser drew a labor challenge in 2008, and the GOP may worry that Pearson can't hang on against presidential turnout. Or, given the testy relationship between Pearson and the party leadership, they may not care.

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Also noted: Walcott Republican Ross Paustian announces for a second term in House 92. Paustian lost to Elesha Gayman in 2008 before winning the open seat in `10. He's already got a Democratic challenger in former senator Frank Wood.

District of the Day: Senate District 46, House Districts 91 and 92

District of the Day: Senate District 46, House Districts 91 and 92

Senate District 46

Registration: D 12145, R 11684, N 16335, total 40178, D + 461
Incumbents: Shawn Hamerlinck, R-Davenport and Jim Hahn, R-Muscatine

Our last week of District Of The Day begins with our last two-incumbent seat. A different pair of House districts gets combined, pairing up two Republican senators from two different counties. This new combined seat is exactly half and half: one House seat that's all Muscatine, one that's all Scott. (Specifics under each.) Making matters worse, it's a swing district with a very slight Democratic tilt, and both of the House districts have been won by Democrats in recent years.

Jim Hahn of Muscatine went to the House in 1990. He moved over to the Senate in 2004 when long-timer Dick Drake retired. That district went north into Jeff Kaufmann's Cedar County based House district. Hahn loses all of Cedar County, and the northern tier of Muscatine, and a tiny piece of Johnson that he won't miss much.

What he gets instead is a chunk of western Scott County and Shawn Hamerlinck. The Davenport city council member knocked off Democrat Frank Wood in 2008 by just 384 votes. That district went north into Republican Steve Olson's House district that was about half rural-suburban north and east Scott County and half rural-suburban south and west Clinton County.

Hamerlinck had kept a relatively low profile until a couple weeks back, when he told a delegation of students testifying about education funding to "go home." Most bets are that Hahn, who'll be 76 be Election Day 2012, calls it quits. Will Hamerlinck also "go home" after 2012?

House District 91

Registration: D 6054, R 6166, N 7394, total 19620, R+ 112
Incumbent: Mark Lofgren, R-Muscatine.

When Hahn went to the Senate in 2004, Republican Barry Brauns tried a comeback after a two-year hiatus. But Nathan Reichert, who had run an unexpectedly close race in a 1995 special election for county auditor, won a big upset to become the first Democrat to take the Muscatine district in recent memory. He stayed atop the target list but beat the incumbent sheriff in 2006 and a city council member in 2008, only to sink beneath the wave in 2010. (Reichert may be interested in a comeback, either here or in the Senate race.)

Mark Lofgren, a first time candidate in 2010, finally took this seat back for the GOP, winning by 1500 votes. This is another District Draws Itself, as the city of Muscatine is 75% of ideal district size. Lofren also keeps suburban Bloomington Township (a GOP stronghold) and the same three townships in eastern Muscatine County including Stockton. He sheds one rural township to the west and adds the Fruitland area. This adds a little population and makes a swing seat even closer.

House District 92

Registration: D 6091, R 5518, N 8941, total 20558, D + 573
Incumbent: Ross Paustian, R-Walcott

No one really thought Elesha Gayman to have a chance in 2006, when the netroots activist shocked Jim (The Elder) Van Fossen. Gayman set a record, since broken by Anesa Kajtazovic, as the youngest woman elected to the legislature.

Gayman had a target on her back from day one in this rural-urban split district in northwest Davenport and western Scott County. Republicans recruited Farm Bureau leader Ross Paustian. But Gayman, who was briefly reported as a loser on Election Night 2008 until the absentees came in, held Paustian to 47% in the Obama wave.

Gayman's retirement - an odd term to use for a 32 year old - days before the 2010 filing deadline was just as surprising as her election. Democrat Sheri Carnahan made a serious effort, but Paustian had never stopped running after 2008 and won with 57%. He's kept a relatively low profile his first session.

The district keeps almost the same lean, a very slight D tilt, on paper. That should help Frank Wood, who joins Bill Heckroth and Rich Olive as former Democratic Senators attempting comebacks on the House side. (Anyone checked in with Staci Appel?) Wood, who announced June 15, narrowly (480 votes) knocked off Republican incumbent Bryan Sievers in 2004 despite the GOP trend, before falling to Hamerlinck in 2008 despite the Democratic trend. Wood ran county-wide in 2010, losing a supervisor race but running slightly ahead of the other two Democrats in a vote-for-three swept by the GOP.

As for the lines, the city portion shifts north (losing all its riverfront) and east to roughly Highway 61. Out in the county Paustian keeps very similar lines, and most of the county west of Davenport. He loses Buffalo and gains the city of Donahue, and keeps Eldridge, Long Grove, Walcott and Blue Grass.

New Map | New Map (Insets) | Old Map

Wood announces in House 92

Wood announces in House 92

House District 92 isn't up till a week from Monday on District of the Day, but former senator Frank Wood has moved my deadline up by announcing his candidacy. The Eldridge Democrat is likely to face freshman Ross Paustian, R-Walcott.

Wood spent six four years in the Senate representing western Scott County before losing to Shawn "Go Home" Hamerlinck in 2008. Wood ran county-wide in 2010, losing a supervisor race but running slightly ahead of the other two Democrats in a vote-for-three swept by the GOP.

This seat in northwest Davenport and western Scott County, which changes little in redistricting, is closely divided, leaning slightly Democratic. It's changed parties twice in three cycles. Democrat Elesha Gayman had the seat for two terms, beating GOP incumbent Jim (Dad) Van Fossen in 2006 and Paustian in 2008. Gayman announced her retirement days before the 2010 filing deadline. Democrat Sheri Carnahan made a serious effort, but Paustian had never stopped running after 2008 and won with 57%.

In what's becoming a pattern, Wood is the third defeated Democratic Senator to announce for a House seat, joining Bill Heckroth and Rich Olive.

(As for District of the Day, the rough draft is now finished through District 50, 99 and 100. I've been doing almost nothing but redistricting since Map Day, and suggestions about What Next within the limited travel budget of the Deeth Blog Mobile News Unit are welcome.)