Thread by @MatthewFoldi

New from me @TheSpectator:

Democrats in Washington, DC and Iowa are now led by a pair of election deniers.

thespectator.com/topic/iowa-dem…

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Following a disastrous cycle, @iowademocrats have elected @RitaHartIA, one of their party’s most prominent 2020 election deniers, to helm them into a critical 2024.

thespectator.com/topic/iowa-dem…

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The decision by @iowademocrats comes weeks after @HouseDemocrats threw out their old leadership and elected veteran election denier Hakeem Jeffries to run their caucus.

I wrote about that @TheSpectator here:

thespectator.com/topic/twilight…

https://twitter.com/MatthewFoldi/status/1616127102532698116

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In Iowa, @RitaHartIA — whose 2020 House campaign ended in a six-vote defeat at the hands of now-#IA01 Congresswoman @millermeeks — won a contentious vote held over Zoom to run @iowademocrats.

thespectator.com/topic/iowa-dem…

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In the months after the 2020 election, @RitaHartIA mounted a dubious challenge to @millermeeks’s win where she asked the US House of Representatives to overturn her defeat and install her in office anyway.

thespectator.com/topic/iowa-dem…

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The failed power grab by @RitaHartIA in #IA02, led by Democratic super-lawyer Marc Elias, failed after it was roundly rejected by both Democrats and Republicans.

thespectator.com/topic/iowa-dem…

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The 2022 cycle was a disaster for @iowademocrats, who saw two longtime statewide incumbents fall to Republican challengers, @brennabird and @robysmithia.

thespectator.com/topic/iowa-dem…

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The state’s only federally elected Democrat, @Axne4Congress, lost to now-#IA03 Congressman @NunnForCongress.

thespectator.com/topic/iowa-dem…

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Adding to the @iowademocrats' incompetence, one of their top #IASEN candidates against @GrassleyWorks was briefly disqualified from running due to a failure to secure enough signatures, as I covered @FreeBeacon at the time.

freebeacon.com/democrats/iowa…

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Looking forward, some of @RitaHartIA's longtime foes think @iowademocrats electing her is a sign of weakness for the party.

thespectator.com/topic/iowa-dem…

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“Rita Hart was willing to throw out Iowa election laws to overturn the results of the 2020 election,” Republican lawyer @AlanOstergren told me.

thespectator.com/topic/iowa-dem…

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“That Iowa Democrats chose her to be the next leader of their party (the tenth in the last twelve years) is a sign of how desperate they are after their losses in 2022.” @AlanOstergren added.

thespectator.com/topic/iowa-dem…

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Luke Martz, of @IAFieldReport fame, added that this has been “absolute chaos and it’s glorious.”

thespectator.com/topic/iowa-dem…

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Interestingly, one of the few bright spots for Iowa Democrats last year didn’t care to weigh in — even to help out her own campaign manager!

thespectator.com/topic/iowa-dem…

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Democratic state senator @SarahforIowa defeated the state’s Republican Senate majority leader in November, and her campaign manager @Brittany_Ruland was one of the candidates @RitaHartIA defeated to become chair.

thespectator.com/topic/iowa-dem…

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One Iowa source told me that Democrats took a long break while counting their ballots, which reminded him of @iowademocrats’ inability to properly count votes in the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination battle.

thespectator.com/topic/iowa-dem…

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It’s been almost three years and there is still no certain winner. In fact, the Associated Press said that it will not declare a winner from the caucus, “given the remaining concerns about whether the overall results are fully accurate.”

desmoinesregister.com/story/news/ele…

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Locally, Republicans are pointing to this battle as the latest in a series of missteps. “With Iowa Democrats, it’s every man for himself,” Luke Martz told me.

thespectator.com/topic/iowa-dem…

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“You saw that today with one of their rising stars refusing to endorse her own campaign manager for chair, and we saw that last fall with Auditor @RobSandIA refusing to lift a finger for their gubernatorial candidate," Martz added.

thespectator.com/topic/iowa-dem…

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National Republicans, for their part, are elated at the news that the future of Iowa Democrats is up to @RitaHartIA. “We look forward to assisting in Rita’s continued electoral failures,” @NRCC spokeswoman @savannahviar told me.

thespectator.com/topic/iowa-dem…

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