With all the attention on Washington this week, it’s important to remember just how important state governments can be. The 2018 election won’t just be the midterm in which Democrats try to seize the House and Senate from President Trump — it will also be their opportunity to win back dozens of governorships currently controlled by Republicans.
So here’s an early disappointment for them in Iowa, reported last night by the Iowa Starting Line blog:
State Senator Liz Mathis has decided against running for governor, she announced at a meeting of the Northwest Des Moines Democrats tonight. Her decision ends months of speculation of whether the popular Eastern Iowa legislator would look to lead Democrats at the top of the ticket in 2018.
Mathis was widely considered the likely front-runner in a Democratic primary and one of the strongest potential statewide candidates in the general election. A TV reporter and anchor for 25 years, she is extremely well-known and trusted in the Cedar Rapids media market, which covers most of the Democratic and swing counties in the state.
Mathis, the writer notes, holds down a very competitive state Senate district, and managed to hold on without much trouble in November despite Trump’s resounding statewide victory in Iowa. That made a lot of Democrats optimistic about her chances in a potential race against the state’s soon-to-be governor, Republican Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds. (Reynolds will take over for her running mate, Gov. Terry Branstad when he is confirmed as Trump’s ambassador to China.)
Democrats’ would love to reverse their slide at the state level. After the 2008 election, they held 29 governorships, their highest number since the Republican resurgence of 1994. Today, there are only 16 Democratic governors.
