October 11, 2012
Local elections heat up in new districts The 2012 elections will be the first held under the 2011 political redistricting of Iowa. As a result, many incumbents running for the U.S. House of Representatives, the Iowa State Senate, and the Iowa House of Representatives are running in new districts. In 2010, the U.S. Census recorded population shifts in Iowa. These changes made it necessary to remap Iowa. The nonpartisan Legislative Serves Agency drew up a new map based solely on the census. The redistricting plan was passed by the Iowa State House and Senate, and Governor Terry Branstad signed it into law on April 19, 2011. The redistricting reduced the number of congressional districts from five to four and also put many incumbent Iowa House and Senate members in the same districts. There are four races in Iowa to determine Iowa’s representatives to the U.S. House. Cedar Rapids is located in District 1, which encompasses northeastern Iowa. In District 1, Democrat Bruce Braley, the incumbent representative, is running against newcomer Republican Ben Lange. Lange runs a law practice in Independence, Iowa. Democrat Dave Loebsack used to represent District 2, but the redrawn map placed him in District 1. He decided to move from Linn County to Johnson County to avoid a primary against Braley and to continue representing southeastern Iowa. Loebsack is running against Republican John Archer, a newcomer to politics. He is the Senior Counsel at Deere
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& Company in the Quad Cities. In District 3, southwestern Iowa, incumbent Democrat Leonard Boswell faces incumbent Republican Tom Latham. Boswell has served eight terms in Congress, while Latham has served in Congress since 2003 as a representative of District 4. Incumbent Steve King, a Republican, is running against Christie Vilsack in District 4. King was elected to Congress in 2002. Vilsack was the former First Lady of Iowa when her husband, Tom Vilsack, was governor from 1999 to 2007. Iowa House Districts 65, 66, and 67 consist of Cedar Rapids, Hiawatha, Marion, and Robins. In District 65, Democratic incumbent Tyler Olson is the only candidate. Republican incumbent Renee Schulte is running against Art Staed, a Democrat, in District 66. Democrat Mark Seidl faces Republican incumbent Kraig Paulsen in District 67. In District 24, which includes Marion, Robins, and other areas of Linn County, Democrat Liz Mathis is running unopposed for the Iowa Senate. Her former challenger, Republican Randi Shannon, dropped out of the race in July 2012. Early voting began September 27 for the General Election. People may vote in-person at the Election Services Department of the Auditor’s Office in the Linn County Public Service Center. Carolina VonKampen Copy Editor
Usher’s Ferry Historic Village Friday, October 26, 7-10pm & Saturday, October 27, 7-10pm $12 /person
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Xavier seniors attend leadership conference
On Sunday, September 16 and Monday, September 17, 26 Xavier seniors attended NCYL, the National Council on Youth Leadership, at Mount Mercy University and Kirkwood Community College. In the spring of 2012, Xavier faculty and community members nominated several students to attend this conference. Students across the nation were selected to attend conferences in their own states. This conference recognizes and commends high school seniors for being community leaders. Chris Williams was honored to attend this conference and to be considered a community leader. “It was a really enriching experience. It talked a lot about communication skills and working with other people, even if you don’t know them very well,” Williams said. In addition to being selected to attend NCYL, some seniors were honored with scholarship awards. Allison Pitz was awarded the Rockwell Collins Youth Leader Award and Cassie Busch was
given the Aegon/Transamerica Female Youth Leadership Award. The Youth Salute Ambassador Scholarship was awarded to Anna Busse and Jimmy Moore. Patrick Mullin received the Nathaniel Frederick Borelli Caring Hands Award. “I was honored, because of the number of people who attended. I was fortunate enough to be awarded,” Mullin said. In conjunction with their awards, Mullin and Pitz were selected to attend the National NCYL conference “Town Meeting on Tomorrow” in St. Louis later this month. In addition to her award, Busch was chosen to participate in the GLC Leadership Experience in Washington, D.C.. Applications for next year’s conference will be available in the spring for current juniors. Nicholas Mlodzik News Writer