As a general election swing state and home to the first-in-the-nation precinct caucuses, Iowa was the “next obvious place,” for the Quinnipiac University Poll to start asking questions. The poll, started in 1988, will begin regularly surveying Iowans’ opinions on statewide political races, presidential politics and issues, according to Peter Brown, assistant director of the [...]

Former Republican Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum has cancelled two scheduled stops in Des Moines today. The former Pennsylvania senator was hospitalized this weekend for a gastrointestinal illness and dehydration. Santorum won the Iowa Caucus in 2012, and has hinted at running as a candidate in the 2016 presidential election. Santorum was scheduled to attend a [...]

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul will be the keynote speaker at the Republican Party of Iowa’s Lincoln Day Dinner in May. Iowa GOP Chairman A.J. Spiker says Tuesday that the potential 2016 presidential candidate will appear at the annual spring dinner. He says he wants to give Paul an opportunity to introduce himself to Iowa, the [...]

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is scheduled to headline a Republican fundraising dinner in Iowa this spring. It would be Walker’s first foray into the leadoff caucus state as a presidential prospect. The Polk County Republican Party says Walker is scheduled to give the keynote speech at the county’s spring fundraising event on May 23 in [...]

A budget proposal Gov. Terry Branstad made last month to attract more physicians to Iowa’s less populated areas by forgiving medical school debt is welcome news to longtime surgeon Dr. Phil Caropreso. Caropreso, who practices in Keokuk in southeast Iowa, said such an offer might lure natives from rural parts of the state to work [...]

Gov. Terry Branstad said Monday he supports a regional system of fundraising forums and events for GOP presidential candidates in 2015 rather than the traditional Ames straw poll in August as a way to raise money, allow Republicans to meet the party hopefuls, and preserve Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses. The Republican governor told reporters his foremost [...]

The onslaught of TV advertisements airing in Iowa for the presidential race has been fueled on the Republican side mostly by outside groups on behalf of Mitt Romney, while President Barack Obama’s campaign is funding his effort. An analysis by Iowa media outlets, including The Gazette and organized by the Des Moines Register, found that [...]

Iowa’s changing political landscape has presidential candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney making campaign appearance in places that defy conventional wisdom. Republican Romney has made stops in Dubuque and Scott counties, places where voters typically support Democratic presidential candidates. For the most part, Obama has visited counties where Democrats have a voter registration advantage or [...]

The fact that President Obama is spending considerable time this year campaigning in Iowa – a state with six electoral votes – is a tell-tale sign he is “in trouble” in one of the key swing states in the 2012 election, Iowa GOP Gov. Terry Branstad contended Monday. “Iowa launched him, and I think Iowa’s [...]

The 2012 Olympics are getting political – and we’re not talking about the judging. There will be no escaping the 2012 presidential race for viewers who tune into see the London games, especially for viewers in swing states like Iowa. Restore Our Future, a pro-GOP super PAC, has announced purchasing $7.2 million worth of ad [...]