SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
June 3, 2020
Sullivan’s Salvos 6/9/20
In this edition:
*Black in America
*Election Results
*Thank You!
*More Joni Ernst
*Trump Doing Good?
*Did You Know?
*Black in America
Of the people I love the most, a majority are black. And I feel obligated to let you know how they are feeling. They are sad, angry, scared, frustrated, disappointed, and exhausted.
They are tired of feeling this way. They do not want to be killed. And I am going to try to help. Are you?
If so, you can start by not telling black people how they should feel or how they should grieve.
*Election Results
Probably the strangest election in Iowa history is in the books. Let’s look at the results:
On the GOP side, Johnson County (and the Second District) chose Marianette Miller-Meeks to be their candidate for Iowa’s Second US House District. Miller-Meeks has been in this position before; she lost to Congressman Loebsack in ’08, ’10, and ’14. We shall see if 4 times is a charm.
In the Democratic race for US Senate, Theresa Greenfield surpassed the necessary 35%, and will be the Democratic Party nominee. I supported Kimberly Graham, who is absolutely wonderful. I am also incredibly impressed by Admiral Franken. I hope both run for other offices in the future. Theresa Greenfield was the establishment favorite. I appreciate her labor roots, but she needs to explain to me what is wrong with everyone having health care and greening our economy. I don’t get it, honestly. But this is what big money buys you. I wish Chuck Schumer would stick to worrying about Wall Street and let us Iowans decide on our own candidate.
In House District 85, longtime State Representative Vicki Lensing was being challenged by UI Law Professor and Democratic Party activist Christina Bohannan. Bohannan cruised to victory, earning 66% of the vote. This is pretty unusual in Legislative politics; maybe the press will finally decide it is worthy of an article!
In the race for Sheriff, Johnson County Sheriff’s Deputy Brad Kunkel defeated CR Police Officer Al Fear by a margin of 82-17. Brad is a GREAT guy who will be a GREAT Sheriff; I am very happy for him!
And in the final contested race, County Supervisor, the 3 incumbent Supervisors were reelected with 77% (Green-Douglass), 69% (Porter), and 65% (Sullivan) of the vote, respectively.
This was an unprecedented election, with all registered voters receiving a vote by mail request. It appears that when you make voting easy, people vote – the 2020 turnout of 29,007 (32%) was far greater than the record of 18,675 set in 2018. I hope we learn some lasting lessons from the administration of this election!
Thank You!
There is a lot going on in our County and our Country. Honestly, local politics is low on the list of important topics right now. But I would be remiss if I did not say something about being renominated.
I was renominated on Tuesday with 65% of the vote. This is one of those contests where being third out of four counts as a win! I will take it! Needless to say, I have several people to thank:
1. My wife, Melissa Fath. It is not easy to be the spouse of an elected official. I am SO blessed to have Melissa as my partner!
2. The voters. I have worked really hard. I think we’ve accomplished some great things. It feels great to know most of the voters approve!
3. My Treasurer, Gary Smith. Keeping track of the money and filing the official reports is tedious, thankless work. I could not serve without Gary’s dedicated behind-the-scenes service!
4. The other candidates. Primaries make us all better!
5. The Iowa City Federation of Labor and Teamsters 238. The endorsements mean a lot, deep in my heart. I am so proud to be a delegate to Iowa City Fed!
There are plenty of other people I could thank, but readers would grow weary of the whole list. Please allow me to just offer a big THANK YOU! to everyone who helped with this election. I promise to do my best to make you proud!
*More Joni Ernst
I got some great feedback last week on something I wrote about Senator Joni Ernst’s desire to cut Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment. I wrote: “I honestly don’t know if she is stupid or devious. I guess it doesn’t matter.”
I was challenged by a reader, who rightfully pointed out that I am urging people to be kind on one hand, and casting dispersions toward Ernst on the other. I thought about it awhile, because it is a very fair point. My response was the following:
“Like a lot of people, I am not always great at following my own advice! I do think, however, there is NO justification for her position. And sometimes, it is not simply a matter of opinion. Sometimes there is a right and a wrong. And she is DEEPLY wrong. The US is already the most unequal country on earth. We cannot afford to make more cuts to our poorest residents. I am a Christian, and I find this deeply immoral.”
I really do believe that this is no longer a disagreement. It is not a matter of opinion. We are now dealing with profound issues of right and wrong. And I am not going to minimize the severity of her position. If she doesn’t understand, then she needs to. If she does understand, then she is willing to do something I believe to be quite evil. Yes, evil. If you can in good conscious take more from our poorest so you can give it to our wealthiest? What else do we call that?
At the same time, the reader I corresponded with is not wrong. I need to do better. I appreciate being called on the carpet. I will try to make that point in a different way next time.
*Trump Doing Good?
I have a constituent in the Lone Tree area who is a strong pro-Trump advocate that occasionally sends me unkind letters and emails. He wrote me an email the other day noting that Trump donates his salary to charity, and Obama never did that. Here is my response:
I am glad President Trump is donating back his salary. I don't feel a President has to do that - she/he deserves to make a living. But if she/he can afford to do so, sure, that's good.
The problem as I see it is that is a smokescreen for all the ways in which President Trump is violating the Emoluments Clause. I'm sure you support our Constitution. The Emoluments Clause is right there in the Constitution!
Let me give you a few quick examples. For starters, President Trump's golf alone has already cost taxpayers $134 million dollars. That is 335 years of Presidential salary. Plus, a lot of that money goes right back to him, as Secret Service pays for rooms at Mar-A-Lago and other Trump properties. The first part is just wrong because it is so extreme. The second part is the part that is unconstitutional.
Then you have foreign leaders staying at Trump's hotel while in Washington; that is a problem, too. Ivanka's deals with China. The list goes on and on.
So, in fact, I can't really see where praising President Trump for donating back his salary makes much sense, when he is scamming taxpayers at the same time.
*DID YOU KNOW? Five states – Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah, and Washington – conduct what are commonly referred to as all-mail elections. In these states, voting is conducted primarily, although not necessarily exclusively, by mail.
Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website-
"Sullivan’s Salvos" is sent once per week to any interested party. It will give a brief update on issues of interest to Johnson County residents.
These messages come solely from Rod Sullivan, and neither represents the viewpoints of the whole Board of Supervisors nor those of groups or individuals otherwise mentioned.
If you do NOT want the weekly E-mail, simply reply to this message, and type "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
If you know anyone else who might be interested, just forward this message. They can E-mail me at rodsullivan@mchsi.com with "subscribe" in the subject line.
As always, feel free to contact me at 354-7199 or rodsullivan@mchsi.com. I look forward to serving you!
---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 3:07 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home