Buttigieg calls to abolish Electoral College; Iowa Democrats optimistic for midterms

Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg praised Iowa voters, discussed the importance of coalition building and expressed support for Iowa Democrats Sunday at the Prairie Meadows Event Center in Altoona.

Buttigieg, who won the Democratic Iowa Caucus for president in 2020, made his return to the state as the keynote speaker for the Iowa Democratic Party’s annual “Liberty and Justice Celebration.”

“Only in Iowa could a young Indiana mayor enter a field of literally 20 men and women competing for the American presidency, and wind up winning,” Buttigieg said.

During his speech, Buttigieg said Iowa is vital to the Democratic Party’s success on both the state and national levels, and  that Iowa voters understood that in 2020 and still do in 2026. Buttigieg is often mentioned as a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2028, but he kept his focus on the midterms. 

“What I felt then, what I feel now and what I believe we all feel in our bones is why, in a few short months, Democratic victories in Iowa will defy assumptions around the country and challenge the rest of the country to follow your lead,” Buttigieg said.

Buttigieg said the national political landscape needs adjustments, calling for the Electoral College to be abolished and U.S. Supreme Court justices to be held accountable.

“We need to immediately get to work to build something better, like a political system where everyone’s vote counts the same, and the person who gets the most votes wins the election,” Buttigieg said. “We need a Supreme Court that is legitimate and trustworthy in the eyes of the American people.” 

Buttigieg added that a constitutional amendment is needed to prevent “dark” money in politics, citing the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010 that allows people to spend unlimited amounts of money for a campaign, particularly through SuperPACs that pay for attack advertisements.

Buttigieg praises Sand

Buttigieg said Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand’s experience as a prosecutor in the attorney general’s office and finding ”waste, fraud and abuse” as state auditor will result in positive changes for Iowa.

“I know that’s going to happen because of the kind of people who are stepping up to lead, like my friend Rob Sand, your next governor,” Buttigieg said. “He is the son of a Decorah bowhunter; (he’s a) problem solver, sworn enemy of ‘waste, fraud and abuse,’ with the results to show for it.” 

During his speech, Sand encouraged Democrats to be unified and open to people who are independents or Republicans, noting that Iowa used to have a Republican and Democrat in the U.S. Senate.

“My whole life, we sent Tom Harkin and Chuck Grassley to the United States Senate together,” Sand said. “We didn’t do it because we didn’t know they were in different political parties. We did it because we knew, as a state, that they had something to offer.”

Sand also attacked Zach Lahn, the Republican candidate for governor, accusing him of being a “political operative”, saying Lahn’s biggest accomplishment is starting a private school in Kansas.

“He has spent a decade working as a political operative full time,” Sand said. “I don’t think that Iowans are going to look at a guy who’s been breaking our political system from the inside and go, ‘Yeah, that’s an outsider,’ unless they’re thinking, ‘Well, technically, Kansas is outside of the state of Iowa.’”

Sand also said his campaign has “three times” the number of Republican donors as Lahn’s campaign.

Democratic optimism

The overarching theme of the fundraiser was optimism, as Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said statewide Democrats have a “big opportunity” in the 2026 general election, describing the party’s candidates as the “strongest in a generation.

“Our candidates are true public servants, and they will start putting their experience to work on day one in office,” Hart said. “They are ready to go.”

Hart added that the Iowa Democratic Party’s 2026 “Liberty and Justice” event saw its highest attendance totals since 2019, highlighting the enthusiasm of Democratic voters.

Lahn touts Trump endorsement, Hinson cites Democrats’ optimism at GOP dinner

State Rep. Josh Turek, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, expressed his optimism by citing a recent Fox News poll that had him up 50% to 46% over his Republican opponent, U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson. The same poll also had Sand up 53% to 44% over Lahn.

“The polls are already showing us that this is possible,” Turek said. “We can absolutely win this race over the next 114 days. We are going to put in a whole lot of work and a whole lot of miles. We are going to go to talk to everyone across this state, no matter where they live, no matter what party they belong to and we are going to make a generational change to the state of Iowa.”

Congressional candidates address affordability

State Rep. Lindsay James, Democratic candidate for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, said the U.S. is the wealthiest nation in the world and Congress is not doing enough to address affordability. 

James said her neighbor, who lives in a Dubuque mobile home, has to make  extremely difficult financial decisions.

“He said, ‘Lindsay, I’m making the impossible choice. Do I pay for my rent and keep my mobile home, or do I pay for my insulin medication and keep my foot,’” James said. “That came out of the mouth of one of my neighbors, one of our neighbors, an Iowan, an American. People are making impossible choices because of a cost of living crisis that’s not only just hitting hard here, but all across the country. We are the wealthiest country in the world, and we all can agree that that is not right.”

James said she called out Amerigroup, a company that offers Medicaid health plans for individuals, on the Iowa House floor after another one of her neighbors told her that his adult son with Down syndrome, a customer of Amerigroup, was struggling with the privatized Medicaid plan.

James added that after initially being warned to not mention the company by name by an Amerigroup lobbyist, the company eventually changed their mind, and restored the health care services that her neighbor needed.

State Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott criticized her Republican opponent in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, incumbent U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn, for supporting policies she says have hurt American families, including reduced Medicaid funding and supporting tariffs that Trone-Garriott said has hurt farmers.

Trone Garriott said her campaign is focused on unity and fighting a “corrupt system” and promised she will be a representative for all Iowans.

“As a state senator, every day is about helping my neighbors,” Trone Garriott said. “I don’t ask first if they voted for me because public service is about serving the people, all of them, and that means showing up. Right now, nobody is showing up for us in Washington.”