Senate Commerce Committee
Senator Matt McCoy (D-Des Moines), will be the new chair (replacing Dandekar)
Senator Liz Mathis (D-Robbins) will be a committee member

Senate Economic Growth/Rebuild Iowa Committee
Senator Liz Mathis (replacing Dandekar) will be a committee member

Senate Human Resources Committee
Senator Liz Mathis will be a new member (replacing Senator Bob Dvorsky, D-Coralville)

Senate Local Government Committee
Senator Tom Courtney (D-Burlington) will be a new member (replacing McCoy)

Senate State Government Committee
Senator McCoy will be a new member (replacing Courtney)

Senate Transportation Committee
Senator Dvorsky will be a new member (replacing Dandekar)

Senate Ways & Means Committee
Senator Mathis will be a new member (replacing Dandekar)

Senate Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee
Senator Joe Seng (D-Davenport) will be vice chair (replacing Dandekar)
Senator Mathis will be a new member

Behn, a Republican from Boone, is the new Minority Leader in the Iowa Senate. Behn, a 57-year-old farmer who briefly ran for governor in the last election, was first elected to the state senate in 1996.

In late September another senator (Bill Dix, Iowa Senate class of 2010)  had tried to force a leadership election amid charges that former Senate Republican Leader Paul McKinley was not aggressively managing the campaign of the Republican running in a special election for an eastern Iowa senate seat. McKinley announced last week he would step down as leader and this past Tuesday the Democrat in the race won the seat, finishing 12 percentage points ahead of the Republican candidate.

UPDATE:  Here’s the Radio Iowa story, with comments from Behn and from Governor Branstad.

BOONE – State Senator Jerry Behn (R-Boone) today announced his intentions to run to become the next Iowa Senate Republican Leader when the Senate Republican Caucus convenes on Thursday, November 10 at the Iowa Capitol.
Behn said he is running for leader in order to fill the void left by Senator McKinley and ensure the party remains fully committed to winning a Senate majority in November of 2012.

“As Senate Republican Leader, I will work to ensure we win a Republican Senate majority in 2012,” said Behn. “I am committed to raising the resources needed to win, recruiting strong conservative candidates and aggressively promoting our pro-growth agenda of more jobs and less spending.”
First elected to the Iowa Senate in 1996, Behn is a farmer from Boone and currently serves as the Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Committee.
The position became open when current Senate Republican Leader Paul McKinley (R-Chariton) announced he would retire from the Senate at the end of his current term and step-down from his leadership position on November 10.

ROBINS – Former United States Attorney and current small businessman Matt Dummermuth today announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for Iowa Senate District 18.  The seat is open as a result of the recent resignation of Senator Swati Dandekar.  Her remaining one-year term will be filled in a special election on November 8.

“Now more than ever, Iowa needs genuine leaders who are not afraid to think outside the box and tackle tough issues in a principled, conservative manner,” Dummermuth said. “I want to use my extensive government experience and small business background to help Iowa become an even better place to grow a business, find a job and raise a family. The state should help foster such an environment by effectively and efficiently carrying out its essential responsibilities, limiting the reach and size of government beyond its core functions, and protecting Iowans’ economic, political and religious liberties in the process.”

Dummermuth’s small business experience involves starting a new law office and practice, along with active involvement since childhood in his family’s farming business. His government experience includes stints in public service in all three branches of the federal government and in Iowa’s executive and legislative branches. His most recent public service was as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa from 2007 to 2009, leading an office of 60 employees, including 26 attorneys in prosecuting federal crimes and handling civil matters in the District, which includes Linn County.

“In today’s uncertain economic climate and hyper-partisan political atmosphere, the state would benefit by having more elected officials who are effective problem-solvers focused on creating a stable and sustainable government, rather than those who excel at ratcheting up rhetoric, making empty promises, and attacking opponents, Dummermuth said.”

Dummermuth is an Iowa native who resides in Robins with his wife and three young kids.  He earned his B.S. in engineering at Iowa State University and his J.D. at Harvard Law School. He practices law in Cedar Rapids as a partner with the law firm of Whitaker Hagenow GBMG.

Read Mathis’ news release below:

Liz Mathis announced today that she will seek the Democratic nomination for Iowa Senate District 18 in the upcoming special election to fill the seat vacated by Sen. Swati Dandekar of Marion.

“People all over are trying to get back on their feet from this lingering national recession,” Mathis said. “They need jobs and they need stability for their families, and all we’re getting from our government is gridlock. It must change. I pledge to work with Democratic and Republican legislators and Governor Branstad to make a difference for the people in District 18.”

Mathis added: “We need new policies that will help our Main Street businesses thrive, bring in business and spur job growth in our local communities.  My husband and I have experienced that first-hand in our family’s business.  That’s one of many reasons I’m running. We also need to stop short-changing our educational system and we need to address support of our area’s most vulnerable children who are affected by poverty and neglect. I am passionate about those things.”

Mathis currently works for a child welfare and juvenile justice agency, Four Oaks, and its affiliates, the Affordable Housing Network and Iowa KidsNet. She is Chief Information Officer, overseeing legislative advocacy, public relations, marketing and development. Mathis currently is an Ohnward Bank Board Director with branches in Marion and Cedar Rapids and sits on the Wartburg College Board of Regents.

Mathis was a news anchor, reporter and producer at KCRG-TV from 1998 to 2007. Prior to KCRG, Mathis spent 16 years at KWWL-TV in Waterloo, where she was an executive producer and first female co-anchor of the evening news. She also taught communication studies and first amendment law at Wartburg College from 1996-1998.

Mathis and her husband, Mark, who owns the advertising agency ME&V, live near Robins and have two children.  She grew up on a farm in rural Iowa and is a University of Iowa graduate.

“I’ve spent my professional career in the communications business,” Mathis said. “I’ve listened to a lot of people in our community tell their stories. I love helping people connect and making things happen. My campaign will focus on reaching out to as many people as I can in Senate District 18. I’m going to knock on doors, meet them and hear what they have to say. I’m running to represent the people of Senate District 18 and I’m ready to go to work for them.”

Read Mary Rathje’s campaign announcement below.  She is the sister-in-law of Steve Rathje, who ran for the US Senate in 2008 and for congress in 2010. The name Rathje is pronounced ROTCH-ee.

MARION, IA-   Mary Rathje announced today her bid to seek the Republican nomination for the Iowa Senate District 18 Special Election.  

Governor Branstad called for the Special Election after State Senator Swati Dandekar resigned to fill a position on the Iowa Utilities Board.  The election is set for Tuesday, November 8, 2011. Mary Rathje said today, “We need to complete the circle; employers want to grow and hire employees, parents want stronger schools and jobs to pay their mortgages, and graduates want job opportunities in Iowa to begin their careers.  Working daily in a family owned business and raising kids in this community has provided me a strong perspective of the issues in the area.  I am inspired by the opportunity to serve the people and am ready to take these ideas and concerns to Des Moines.”
 
The vacancy of the senate seat places the democrat majority in the Iowa Senate in jeopardy. With a republican victory it will place the power balance between the parties at 25-25.
 
Rathje continued, “I am not a career politician.  I am proud to be an active member of the community and look forward to listening to the ideas and concerns of the district.”
 
Rathje is part of the 50-year old Marion based family business, Rathje Construction.  She is a graduate of Linn-Mar High School and is celebrating her 40th wedding anniversary with husband Robert.  They have two children and four grandchildren.
 
Senate District 18 covers all of the City of Marion, Fairfax, Palo, Hiawatha, Robbins, Alburnett, Center Point, Walker, Coggon, Prairieburg and part of Walford.

Daniel Lunby

The late Mary Lundby was a state representative when she helped the GOP win control of the Iowa House of Representatives in the early 1990s.  She sought election as House Speaker, but Republicans in the House opted for Harold Van Maanen, a long-time legislator, instead.  She was elected to the #3 position in the House GOP leadership — House Speaker Pro Tempore.

Lundby then ran for the state senate and at the end of her tenure there she was elected Senate Majority Leader.  She was also one of the few GOP legislators who openly campaigned for Congressman Fred Grandy when Grandy challenged Terry Branstad in the 1994 GOP Primary. After 22 years in the legislature, Lundby announced she wouldn’t seek reelection to the senate and intended to run for the Linn County Board of Supervisors.  She didn’t get to finish that last race, though, as she died of cancer in early 2009.

Her son has just announced his intentions to run for the legislature, as a Democrat.  Read the news release below.

Marion, Iowa – Daniel Lundby, 35, announced today he is running for the Iowa House in Marion, Iowa and its surrounding areas.  Lundby, son of the late Senator Mary Lundby, will run as a Democrat.

“My mother believed in a common sense approach to solving problems through partisan politics.  I want to bring that common sense back to the Iowa House.  My mother also strongly cared about children in Iowa and wanted them to get the best education possible.  Unfortunately, the needs of our young people now seem less important with the Republicans insisting on zero percent growth for local schools and education cuts to state universities.  None of which my mother would approve of.  Nor would she support cutting programs that protect our natural resources and our environment.  She would definitely not support attempts to deny equal rights to any Iowan.  Being my mother’s son, I want the chance to continue her work for a better Iowa.”

Lundby said his decision to run for the Iowa House, in the same area his mother held for almost a quarter century, is for the same reason his mother did in 1986.  “She saw a need for fresh new ideas not fueled by party agendas, but through listening to the voters who elected her.  It is that same attention my mother gave her voters that I want to bring back to the constituents of House District 68.”

Explaining his decision to switch parties, Lundby said, “I changed my party affiliation from Republican to Democrat because the Republican Party and the people I was supporting no longer placed the best interests of Iowa and its voters before their own party agenda.”

For example, Lundby named improving the educational system in Iowa, to offer young Iowans more options for getting good jobs in the ever-changing workplace, as one of his main reasons for running for state representative.  In addition, Lundby wants to create jobs by finding better ways to recruit new small businesses to come to Iowa and assisting those businesses that are already creating jobs in Iowa, like his Grandmother Betty Hoehl’s bridal shop. 
Daniel Lundby was born in Cedar Rapids and raised in Marion.  His father, Michael Lundby, is a Machinist painter at Quaker Oats and has been a member of Machinist Local Union 831 for 29 years.  Daniel attended St. Joseph’s Elementary school, in Marion, and graduated from Regis Catholic High School.  He was active in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts and spent summers as a camp counselor.  He also spent time in the summers at his grandparents’ farm in Decorah.  From the age of seven, he began campaigning at his mother’s side. 

Daniel received an AA from Kirkwood Community College and a BS from Iowa State University.  He is currently working on a MS degree from Iowa State and is scheduled to graduate in December 2011.

Like many young Iowans, Daniel moved to New York City, for work, after receiving his BS degree but returned to Iowa to be with his mother in her last weeks of fighting cancer.  Shortly after the passing of his mother, his grandmother on his father’s side also passed away.  He returned to Iowa to support his father and family.

Suchy and Pettengill were in the same statehouse meeting room this afternoon as the Administrative Rules Review Committee on which Pettengill serves heard a briefing from Suchy about the department’s outline for the new dove hunting season.

A Sierra Club official spoke against the season, against lead shot, against “food plots” for the doves and against allowing hunters to sit in their pick-up and shoot at the doves. A spokesman for Pheasants Forever touted the sport of dove hunting and was briefly drawn into a discussion of the lack of pheasants in southern Iowa by a southern Iowa legislator who lamented the lack of pheasants in southern Iowa.  A man from Indianola who lobbied legislators to pass the dove hunting bill spoke as well.

Listen to the entire discussion, starting with Suchy’s briefing on the DNR’s approach to dove hunting rules.

AUDIO 34 min