Republican Convention Being Held Today
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa Republicans are holding their state convention this weekend.
The Iowa Republican Party Convention is being held Saturday in Des Moines.
Three Republicans viewed as potential presidential candidates will speak at the convention: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.
The three have taken part in a number of events in Iowa since the 2012 election.
Clovis Announces Nomination For State Treasurer
(Sioux City)– The second-place finisher in the June 3rd primary race for the Iowa G-O-P’s U.S. Senate nomination is stepping forward to seek the Republican Party’s nomination for the job of state treasurer. Sam Clovis says it all began a few days ago when a supporter posted a comment online, suggesting Clovis would be a good candidate for the job.
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Since there was no G-O-P candidate for state treasurer on the Republican Primary ballot, delegates at Saturday’s Iowa Republican Party state convention will select a nominee for that slot on the General Election ballot. Clovis, who describes himself as a Christian conservative, says he hopes his candidacy would help unify the factions within the G-O-P.
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And Clovis says having active campaigns in all the statewide races will benefit the party’s effort to turn out voters in legislative races as well.
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Clovis ran a bare bones campaign for the U.S. Senate and finished second, ahead of a candidate who poured three million dollars of his own money into the race, only to wind up in third place. Clovis, who is on sabbatical from his job as a Morningside College economics professor, says he has the credentials for the job of state treasurer.
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Mike Fitzgerald, a Democrat, has served as state treasurer for nearly 32 years and he plans to seek reelection. Another Republican has expressed interest in running for state treasurer. John Thompson, a former soldier and Harvard graduate who has a Facebook page for his campaign, was arrested at the Des Moines Airport last year after he was caught going through security with a gun and ammunition. Two years ago he was also accused in North Carolina of trying to have his ex-wife killed, but those charges were later dropped.
Shift In Leaderhip Puts Immigration Reform At Risk King Says
(Washington DC)– Republican Congressman Steve King says efforts to keep immigration reform from passing the U.S. House are at risk because of a shift in leadership.
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House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost his Republican Primary in Virginia this past Tuesday and California Congressman Kevin McCarthy is poised to take Cantor’s slot as the number two Republican in the U.S. House.
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Eight members of the U.S. Senate crafted what has been called “comprehensive” immigration reform and the bill passed the Senate last year, but has never been considered in the House. King has been a leading critic of immigration reform — he calls it “amnesty” — and King believes House leaders have “missed the message” from Cantor’s loss.
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King suggests it’s time for new conservative leadership in the U.S. House, and he speculates that while House Speaker John Boehner (BAY-ner) easily survived his own Republican Primary in Ohio this spring, Boehner may be “mentally fatigued” and may not try to remain as speaker in 2015.
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King, who was first elected to congress in 2002 and is seeking reelection in 2014, says he would like to see a “strong conservative” from a “red state” get elected speaker of the House.
Iraq Situation “Urgent” According To King
(Washington DC)– Republican Congressman Steve King calls the situation in Iraq “urgent” and King says President Obama is offering a “flat-footed” response.
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Insurgents have swept through Iraq and have surrounded the government in Baghdad.
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King says there’s no time to “fool around” and waiting may just give neighboring Iran time to move in to fill the void.
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The insurgents in Iraq come from the civil war in Syria. They’ve declared themselves the “Islamic State of Iraq and Syria” and they have seized major cities in northern Iraq. Reports indicate “hundreds” of Iraqi government soldiers and residents in Mosul (MOH-zull) were decapitated. Their brutality has even led al-Qaeda’s leadership to denounce the insurgents.
Clean Up Underway
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Council Bluffs residents dropped off tons of tree and wet basement debris after the city offered to accept the items at no charge for a week following an intense storm. The Daily Nonpareil reports the city offered to take the items for free after a June 3rd storm pounded parts of western Iowa with hail, rain and high winds.
Costner Returns To Field Of Dreams
DYERSVILLE, Iowa (AP) – In Iowa for a “Field of Dreams” 25th anniversary celebration, actor Kevin Costner did the obvious. He played a little baseball Friday, this time with his two young sons. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports hundreds of onlookers watched as Costner played catch with his boys, 7-year-old Cayden and 5-year-old Hayes. Costner and other actors traveled to the field near Dyersville in northeast Iowa to celebrate the 1989 movie about an Iowa farmer who carved a baseball field out of his corn crop.
