Even amid a busy local election for several city roles, Poweshiek County parties already have their eyes set for the midterms elections next year.
Poweshiek County Democrats have had a busy season. John Grennan, co-chair of Poweshiek County Democrats, said that much of his focus has been on fundraising and canvassing for Sam Cox’s mayoral campaign in Grinnell. Amid the mayoral race, the party has brought midterm election candidates to Grinnell, including Zach Wahls, Jackie Norries and Nathan Sage.
Dave Walford, chairman of the Poweshiek County Republicans, said that midterms are in an early planning phase for their party. Most effort presently lies in caucus planning for Feb. 2, which requires coordinating 10 precincts, 40 volunteers, and 1,300 republicans across Poweshiek County. Philips said that the party will not endorse candidates for the primary, but will organize voting and support candidates selected by all members of the party.
Midterm campaigns take over
The Democratic party has financially supported most of the people running for state office, as well as local candidates over the years.
“We do what we can to recruit and support candidates, and then try to financially support them, connect them to the state party. That’s our main goal. A lot of it, I think, this year is going to be driven by who’s running for governor,” Grennan said.
While the Democrats contribute to candidates financially, the Republicans focus their campaigning efforts more on spreading educational information to county residents.
“As far as I know, we’ve never financially contributed to a candidate, because where do you stop? We will support them in any other way that we can. We’re not a big budget organization. We are pretty small when it comes to expenditure,” said Ken Philips, co-chair of the Poweshiek County Republicans.
Walford said that most of the Republican party’s income comes from donations and soup supper fundraisers, usually hosted once or twice per year.
Youth involvement in elections
Both parties expressed challenges in engaging young voters, especially since Grinnell College students oftentimes will not remain on the voter rolls past their undergraduate years, Grennan said.
Grennan said that the party works closely with the College’s student organization, Campus Democrats, to spread information about voting rights, voter identification state requirements, absentee voting and candidate information.
One of Grennan’s most recent efforts with Campus Democrats has been campaigning for the mayor race. “Who the mayor is matters, and truly, if students don’t want to vote here, I just encourage them to make sure that they are staying engaged and active, and laws change in your state,” he said.
“We are acutely aware of the need to bring in young voters who share our ideals of peace, prosperity, individual liberty, and equality for everyone. But we struggle with how to accomplish that,” Ken Philips, co-chair of the Poweshiek County Republicans, wrote in a statement to The S&B.
“Having a conversation with younger people is always good,” Walford said. He said that it is easier for old people to attend party meetings, as they don’t have some of the commitments young people might have.
Philips said that the party is looking to attract more young people to get involved, but they are searching for ways to do that. He said the party mainly communicates through email and Facebook, and are currently bolstering their presence on other social media platforms like Instagram and YouTube.
Grennan said that sometimes the particularity of Iowa’s voting requirements can disenfranchise individuals, especially students, with the requirement of having a government issued photo ID.
Party membership and organization
Both parties hold monthly meetings to discuss fundraising avenues, boosting volunteers and event planning, particularly around the caucuses.
The Democratic party has a central committee with representatives from all 10 precincts. There is a county committee that has 20 people, and Grennan said that people are more than welcome to come to their monthly county meetings.
The Poweshiek Republican party’s county committee has five inner committees — finance, communication, membership, events and auxiliary, in addition to Walford, the co-chairs, secretary and treasurer. Each committee is led by a chair, who either volunteers to hold that position, or is appointed if no one volunteers.
“We’ll take anyone we can get. Really, it’s a pretty diverse group for Poweshiek County — we have folks from Grinnell, Brooklyn and Montezuma, and a lot of folks from outlying areas that are into agriculture, farming and cattle. It’s pretty diverse in that respect,” Philips said.
Polls open at 7:00 a.m. and close at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4. Grinnell is divided into 4 wards, which determine where a resident votes. Wards 1 and 2 vote at Elks Lodge, Ward 3 votes at Drake Library and Ward 4 votes at the 4H Building, County Fairgrounds.
Correction: This article has been updated to correct a misspelling of Dave Walford’s name. Updated 11/4/25 at 5:35 p.m.
