On the Campaign Trail with Ed Tibbetts

The Iowa Republican web site puts a spotlight on Scott County politics while promoting the local GOP’s fundraising dinner Nov. 10.

The article notes the party’s loss of legislative seats and shift in registrations to the Democrats over the past 10 years, part of a trend in eastern Iowa. But it says ex-congressional candidate and former state party chair, Brian Kennedy, could be planting the seeds to recovery by ramping up fundraising activities.

The article is here.

Republicans do feel enthusiasm here, like across the rest of the country. But lately, the losses have piled up.

The upside of that is there are more targets.

Next year, there will likely be another hard-fought battle for Democratic state Rep. Elesha Gayman’s west Scott County seat. Also, first-term incumbent Phyllis Thede, a Bettendorf Democrat, will likely be targeted. Her seat had been in Republican hands for years, and the GOP would like to take it back.

Republicans are not without their own troubles.

State Sen. David Hartsuch, of Bettendorf, is up for re-election. Democrats would dearly love to knock him off, and this will be the first time he’ll be on a ballot since he upset Maggie Tinsman in a GOP primary but then struggled to win the general election, narrowly pulling out a 400 vote win in a decidedly right-leaning Senate district.

I’m also hearing that Hartsuch is in for a primary challenge.

It’s still early, so there could be other targeted races, too.

UPDATE: (1:50 p.m.) Bleeding Heartland, a liberal blog, has its own take on Scott County’s political drift. You can find the post here.

Its message: The GOP has abandoned moderates, and no amount of focus on the economy (part of the Iowa Republican’s piece) will change that.

“Until the Republican Party makes room in the tent for people who admire Jim Leach, they won’t regain a dominant position in places like Scott County,” Bleeding Heartland says.