Iowa Senate Democrats Are on the Move, Especially Women

Captions: 1. On left, Bev Hannon, who Sen. Liz Mathis (D-CR) mentioned as a valuable mentor, still has pink women's march hats for sale ($15 each) to support girls' education at bhannon@bhannon.com; on right, Democrat Tracy Freese (Hello@TracyFreese.com), who is running against Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix. Senator Bill Dix (R-Shell Rock) fired Kirsten Anderson, the former communications director for the Republican caucus, seven hours after she complained about being sexually harassed in the Republican caucus. She sued for sex discrimination and won $1.75 million. Dix continues to claim he fired Anderson for "poor work performance." Freese has Raygun T-shirts that say, "Freese Dix Out." She's sending me one soon!

2. On left, Sen. Joe Bolkcom (D-Iowa City) with Democratic Senate candidate Amber Gustafson (amber@amberforiowa.com), who is running against Republican President of the Senate, Sen. Jack Whitver of District 19.

3. Democratic Senate candidate Mary Stewart (marystewartforiowasenate@gmail.com), who is running against Republican Senator Mark Chelgren of Ottumwa, a gentleman whose resume didn't match up with the facts ("Sizzler U." is a restaurant training course, not a degree-conferring university) and wanted faculty in Iowa's three public universities to be forced to consist of half Republicans and half Democrats.

4. Democratic Senate candidate Marie Gleason (marie@gleasonforsenate.com), a 20-year John Deere employee, is running against Republican Sen. Roby Smith of Scott County, who supports voter IDs, which have generally been associated with Republican efforts to suppress voters' rights.

I met another Senate candidate, Vicky Brenner (vicky@brennerforiowasenate.com), as I was leaving. She was truly delightful. She said after Kirsten Gillibrand won her $1.75 million lawsuit for sex discrimination in the Republican caucus where she worked as the caucus' communications director, Brenner decided she'd had enough. She is a retired teacher. She's running against Republican Sen. Julian Garrett, who successfully voted to take funding away from Planned Parenthood.

All the women senators already in office were charming too. Sen. Liz Mathis (D-CR) stepped forward with a smile as Jim and I entered the room to thank us for coming. Senate Minority Leader Janet Petersen (D-Des Moines) captivated me as she talked from the podium about her Danish grandmother and the Danish concept of hygge, which is roughly translated as "cosiness." Hygge may have derived from the old Norse word meaning hug, comfort, console. Hygge is pronounced "hoo-gah." Think warm socks, a blazing fireplace, and a cup of tea and biscuits, all of which sounded very comforting on a cold winter night.