- All the kings horses and all of the kings men . . . couldn’t put their favorite office back together again (at least for now)
Which message have Scott County residents delivered to the Democrat Party — we don’t trust you in the auditors office; we are tired of your hypocritical BS; your media division can’t drag you over the finish line?
Disregard their excuses and happy face. This is a big failure/defeat for them. We hope a harbinger. It may be consistent with this article from last week which we will have more comment on another day: ‘Past the point of no return’? Iowa Dems feel hopes fading .
Oh by no means count Dems out. All the organizational and money advantages are still theirs. And, you can’t win with nothing and Republicans of late (hopefully changed) have failed to even run candidates much less seriously go on the offensive in various races in the community.
Republican Party apparat needs to organizationally become involved in so-called non-partisan races that have far-reaching trickle up and trickle down political effect. Especially this means school boards which are absolutely key to culture change, which Democrats know and subvert by the un-virtual owning of them through teacher union dominance. Even deep scandals are overcome by the brute force of the liberal teacher turnout machine. Even partisan races including the auditor’s office Republicans have pathetically bequeathed to Democrats over the years.
And never underestimate the power of Republicans to fail to consolidate or advance in victory.
Here is the QC Times article about the Democrats not getting enough signatures to force an unnecessary and costly special election. You can read about the Democrats chicanery and hypocrisy regarding the county offices in several recent articles here at V’pac. See these links. We set forth the QC Times article below to allow for our annotations in red which we will to add here and there and invite readers to send their observations which we will incorporate.
Petition to force special election in wake of Scott County Auditor appointment fails
Local Democrats were unable to gather enough valid signatures to force a special election to choose Scott County’s next auditor after a recent change to state law shortened the amount of time they had to do so.
Scott County Democrats gathered more than 6,200 signatures in 14 days, shy of the nearly 9,260 needed from eligible Scott County voters. The number, however, far exceeds the number of signatures previously collected in similar petition efforts, according to Democrats. Previously, the highest number of signatures gathered was 3,500.
The QCTimes quotes this without investigation or reference or fact checking the assertion. And where is it written as a matter of political science that a petition of 3500 ought to be adequate to trigger a special election of county-wide office when that number is less than 2% of the population; less than 2.7% of the registered voters and less than 3.8% of the turnout in the most recent general election! It is a preposterously low sum in the scheme of things subject to all manner of mischief from malcontents like Democrats. It seems prudent that the trigger ought to be set higher and 10% of the last general election turn-out is more reasonable.
Democrats faced an uphill climb to force a special election after the Republican-majority Scott County Board of Supervisors opted to appoint fellow Republican and former Davenport alderwoman Kerri Tompkins to fill the vacancy left by former Scott County Auditor Roxanna Moritz
Funny how the QCT/Tom Barton article didn’t analyze the partisan background to the Democrat shenanigans regarding Supervisor Maxwell (see related links here).
Moritz, a Democrat, abruptly retired April 23, five months after being re-elected in 2020. She was unopposed
More pertinently, Moritz announced her retirement barely TWO months into her new term.
Moritz announced in March she was nearing retirement and chose to step down early out of concerns over actions by state lawmakers and county supervisors she said will make the job more difficult.
A new law signed in March, sponsored by state Sen. Roby Smith, R-Davenport, also affected filling the vacancy
Democrats had just 14 days to gather enough signatures equal to 10% of the vote cast in Scott County in the last presidential election, rather than the four to six weeks under the previous law, to force an election.
Scott County Democratic Party Chairwoman Elesha Gayman (right) and First Vice Chairman Matt Trimble (left) hold out copies of petitions signed by Scott County voters. Local Democrats were unable to gather enough valid signatures to force a special election to choose Scott County’s next auditor after a recent change to state law shortened the amount of time they had to do so.Tom Barton
“What I want this message to really send to the voters of Scott County is to know the the Democratic party is going to continue to stand up for the right to vote,” Scott County Democratic Party Chairwoman Elesha Gayman said at a Wednesday news conference. “We’re not going to lay down. We’re not going to turn around while this voter suppression happens in our backyards.’
Tompkins will serve until voters elect an auditor to a full term during the next general election in November 2022.
Partisan contention surrounded the process for appointing her to the role and raised questions as to whether Republican supervisors violated Iowa’s open meetings law.
Republican supervisors said they opted against a special election out of concern for its cost and efficiency.
The party-line vote, though, drew a rapid response by Iowa Democrats, who with help from state party officials and officeholders, tried to collect more than 10,000 signatures to allow a special election
“Iowa Democrats are fired up and ready to organize,” Iowa Democratic Party Chair Ross Wilburn said in a statement. “They were able to gather a record number of signatures under a new set of rules passed by Republicans and intentionally designed to limit citizen participation and power. The GOP should be worried. We are united as a party and stand ready to fight against voter suppression all across Iowa.”
Gayman said the county party’s next step will be contacting some 10,000 Scott County voters whose registration status was changed to “inactive” because they did not vote in the November election.
Under new voting restrictions signed into law in March, voters are listed as “inactive” after missing just one election. Previously, voters had to miss two consecutive general elections to be marked “inactive.” A process critics argue is accelerated and puts voters at greater risk of having their voter registration canceled.
“We’re gong to continue to work to empower Scott County voters,” Gayman said, including contacting Democrats, independents and Republicans to “get those individuals back” to active voter status.
— The Associated Press contributed to this report
