On Point - March 2022
The Three C’s:
Caucus, Committee and Convention
We’ve had a raucous and exciting few weeks here at the Republican Party of Polk County! We held the Iowa Caucuses, elected great neighborhood folks to the County Central Committee and are topping it all off with the County Convention on Saturday, March 12.
Caucus
The Iowa Precinct Caucuses were a herculean effort to execute. As many of us are aware, the U.S. Census numbers were delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic (another C!) which, in turn, delayed the Iowa Legislature in its constitutional duty to approve the maps, which in turn, delayed the county in drawing the precinct lines, which, in turn, made it nearly impossible except for a wing-and-a-prayer strategy to set up the sites, prepare the materials, find precinct captains and get the process done and in the books on Monday, February 7. A special thank you to the hundreds of citizens who stepped forward to manage their precinct caucuses and an even bigger thank you to those who remained patient in this ever-changing world. An even more special thank you to the volunteers who delivered the packets back to headquarters after their Caucus and hung around to open and sort all that information!
Committee
The purpose of the Precinct Caucus is to elect representation to the Republican Party of Polk County Central Committee. Representatives have a two-year term and take care of their neighborhood. This can be attending County Committee meetings, hosting events in their neighborhood, identifying volunteers, walking precincts at campaign time, keeping abreast of everything that is happening in their neighborhood. It’s not to be entered into lightly. Committee members are duly elected officials with a unique perspective of how their neighborhood fits into the patchwork quilt of Polk County. We have 176 precincts in Polk County, and we have two representatives per precinct. Meetings are held the last Tuesday of the month.
Convention
Delegates were selected to the Republican Party of Polk County Convention during the February 7 precinct caucuses. The County Convention for Republicans statewide will be Saturday, March 12 at 9 a.m. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. This year, the Republican Party of Polk County Convention will be held at the Sheraton West Des Moines Hotel, 1800 50th Street, West Des Moines, IA 50266. The grand ballroom will be able to hold the delegates, alternates, junior delegates and volunteers. Area restaurants will be available for lunch.
The Polk County GOP leadership started working with volunteers the day after caucus to organize the data and the convention. A special thank you to Convention Chair Wes Enos of Ankeny and Convention Organization Chair Mary Whisenand of Des Moines who will oversee the details at the Convention, Mackenzie Dreezen Rutter who will spend her day with the Junior Delegates and assist them in learning about the political system. Behind the scenes, John Gruber and his team have been working through the platform issues and Secretary Joe Heuertz has taken on the duties of credentials. It will all come together on Saturday, March 12. See you there! Spectators and volunteers are always welcome.
Chairman’s Report
Every ten years after the census the congressional districts, Iowa house and senate districts and local precincts are redrawn according to the new data. Polk County had a population growth of 58,474 now with a population of 503,145. Local precincts are realigned to show the growth and the shift in population.
Polk County precincts were 75% redrawn and renumbered, so there is a good chance you have a new precinct number. The City of Des Moines lost 12 precincts but showed growth in the downtown area. We saw growth in seven of the suburbs with the largest change in Ankeny with the addition of seven (7) precinct numbers.
This became a challenge for caucus locations as the local governments had to have their maps approved by the Secretary of State by January 15th before the County Auditor could produce new precinct maps. With caucus on February 7th, we faced long days and nights working through the process. Many of the communities worked with us and provided their individual city maps with their new precincts, and we worked diligently to get the word out and people in their correct locations.
How does that impact you for voting? Many of you will have a new precinct number and you can locate that at Find My Precinct .Your polling location may or may not have changed; it will be listed on this link. You will also receive a new Voter ID card before the November election.
I encourage everyone to be a prepared voter!
Commitment
The Iowa Legislature and our elected officials have been in full swing, working hard for their districts here in Polk County. The most outstanding issue which is drawing national attention is the recently-signed Iowa tax cut at 3.9% and no take on retirement income. This will make our state more competitive in the business market, says our Governor Reynolds. To learn more about issues before the Iowa Legislature and their current status, log on to: www.legis.iowa.gov
Thank you to all our Polk County elected officials for their continued efforts in the Iowa Legislature:
Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver - Senate District 19
Senator Brad Zaun - Senate District 20
Senator Zach Nunn - Senate District 15
Representative Eddie Andrews - House District 39
Representative Michael Bousselot - House District 37
Representative Garrett Gobble - House District 38
Representative Brian Lohse - House District 30
Candidates
We have been working hard with the Republican Party of Iowa and our local leaders to field candidates for the June 7 Primary and November 8 General Election. They will be filing their nomination papers in the coming weeks so if you are eligible to sign those papers but have not done so, contact the candidate of choice and pen your name. From the County Courthouse to the Statehouse to Congress, we are racking up folks who are ready to pursue the rigors of campaigning. We thank them–and their families–for signing on the dotted line and getting out our message!
Those announced candidates as of this publication are:
- U. S. Senate - U. S. Senator Charles Grassley; Iowa Senator Jim Carlin (primary June 7)
- 3rd Congressional District - Nicole Hasso; Gary Leffler; Zach Nunn (primary June 7)
- Governor - Governor Kim Reynolds
- Iowa Secretary of State - Secretary of State Paul Pate
- Iowa State Auditor - Mary Ann Hanusa; Todd Halbur (primary June 7)
- Iowa Attorney General - Brenna Bird
- Iowa Secretary of Agriculture - Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig
- Iowa Senate District 16 - Shad Clayton
- Iowa Senate District 21 - Michael Bousselot
- Iowa Senate District 23- Senator Jack Whitver
- Iowa House District 39 - Mark Weatherly
- Iowa House District 40 - Bill Gustoff
- Iowa House District 41 - Marvis Landon
- Iowa House District 42 - Representative Garrett Gobble
- Iowa House District 43 - Representative Eddie Andrews
- Iowa House District 45 - Representative Brian Lohse
- Iowa House District 46 - Jeremy Freeman; David Dicks; Dan Gehlbach (primary June 7)
Calendar
Wednesday, March 9 Gov. Kim Reynolds Special Event - State Fairgrounds RSVP reynoldstour.com 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 12 Republican Party of Polk County Convention Sheraton West Des Moines 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Thursday, March 17 Capitol Region Republican Women Meeting & Spring Social Iowa Machine Shed - 6 p.m. RSVP [email protected]
- Tuesday, March 29 Republican Party of Polk County Central Committee 6:30 p.m.
- Thursday, April 14 Annual Iowa Prayer Breakfast Community Choice Convention Center - Des Moines 7:15 a.m.
Saturday, April 23 Republican Party of Iowa District Conventions - Statewide Third District - Southwestern College, Creston
Thursday, April 14 Annual Iowa Prayer Breakfast Community Choice Convention Center - Des Moines 7:15 a.m.
Thursday, April 21 Capitol Region Republican Women & Candidate Invitational Iowa Machine Shed, 6:00 pm.
Tuesday, April 26 Republican Party of Polk County Central Committee -6:30 p.m.
And the final C of the month:
