Democrats: U.S. House District 4: Christie Vilsack: 168,323 (44.6%) Iowa House District 47: Donovan Olson: 3,309 (46.97%) Iowa Senate District 24: Shelly Stotts: 8,835 (44.88%) | Republicans: U.S. House District 4 Steve King: 200,831 (53.2%) Iowa House District 47: Chip Baltimore: 3,729 (52.93%) Iowa Senate District 24: Jerry Behn: 10,831 (55.02%) | Independents: U.S. House District 4 Martin Monroe: 8,067 (2.1%) Iowa House District 47: Write in: 7 (.10%) Iowa Senate District 24: Write in: 20 (.10%) |
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By Sophia Andersen
and Taylor Baggett Staff Writers To most college students, the name David Wiggins probably doesn’t mean a lot. But it should. Wiggins is one of the judges who is up for a retention vote on the Iowa ballot this year. Normally a judicial retention vote doesn’t gain much attention, but Wiggins is one of the most frequently spoken names in the media across Iowa. Why? It’s simple: On Friday, April 3 of 2009, the seven justices of the Iowa Supreme Court voted unanimously to extend the right to marry to same-sex couples, stating that the language from Iowa Code section 595.2 limiting marriage to a man and a woman violated the Equal Protection Clause in Iowa’s Constitution. This clause, found in Article 1, Section Six, states “All laws of a general nature shall have a uniform operation; the general assembly shall not grant any citizen or class of citizens, privileges or immunities, which upon the same terms shall not equally belong to all citizens.” In short, the court stated, that since the marriage law contradicted the equal protection clause, it was unconstitutional. David Wiggins was one of the seven Supreme Court Justices that made this ruling, and now, as he is up for retention, the case known officially as Varnum v. Brien is at the forefront of many people’s minds. There has been widespread debate over this ruling across Iowa. Varnum v. Brien set a new legal precedent using a state’s equal protection clause to validate same-sex marriage. This has enraged some, producing claims that it violates the traditional definition of marriage, and accusations against the justices of “judicial activism” and “legislating from the bench.” On the flip side, others are claiming that the justices were simply doing their jobs, and applying the law in a fair and just manner in accordance with the Iowa Constitution. County Supervisor:
Bill Lusher Thomas L. Foster Chet Hollingshead County Auditor: Philippe E. Veier County Sheriff: Gregg E. Elsberry Rick D. Lampe County Attorney: Adria Kester By Taylor Baggett
Election Section Editor-in-Chief With all the focus being put on the Presidential election this fall, many Iowans may have forgotten that President isn’t the only person they will be voting for on Nov. 6. Other offices up for election in Boone County include U.S. House of Representatives, Congress, Iowa House of Representatives and Iowa Senate. The candidates for Iowa’s 4th congressional district are Christie Vilsack (DEM), Steve King (REP), and Martin James Monroe (NP). Christie Vilsack. Vilsack was born and raised in Mount Pleasant Iowa. Vilsack is a 1972 graduate of Kirkland College in Clinton, New York. In 1992 she received her master’s degree in journalism from the University of Iowa. Vilsack taught middle and high school language arts and journalism for 18 years in her hometown. In 1998, she became the First Lady of Iowa- a position she held until 2007. During this time she promoted literacy and stood for educational and economical development initiatives. In the election, Vilsack’s platform is mainly based upon education. For college students, her plan is to fight for the preservation of Pell Grants and keep them available to community college students who are also working. She supports equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered citizens, and has been endorsed by the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Dear editor,
This country is twisted into RICH VS POOR and the middle class is only here for a short time if people like Mitt Romney run the country. People who run businesses need to make money, and that is fine with me. The problem is the huge difference in the pay of people like Donald Trump and his buddy’s in the stock market and the people under them. They do very little work and reap most of the rewards. The unions became powerful enough in the 1920-1990’s to speak for the workers and demand pay that would put them in the middle income. Thanks to NAFTA that is over, we are little more than minimum wage workers I come from a town that lost a washing machine factory that was there for over 60 years! I never got to work, but I did benefit from the surrounding businesses that I worked at for over 30 years. That company has relocated to Mexico! Just over the border from Texas. And not one politician stood up and stopped it This was in the works during the Bush reign and Obama had no control of it. The bottom line is we need industry and good paying jobs. 1. You can’t give tax credits to companies leaving the country! 2. Give tax credits to local U.S. people when they start a business! 3. If a non U.S. citizen is arrested for any reason they should be transferred to a federal agency and deported to where they came. 4. Obama care is not perfect and it needs tweaked. The people who pay for it need to be the wealthy! Anyone making over 250 thousand a year. Donald Trump will hate this! Cool 5. Repeal NAFTA, Tax imports, promote exports, 6. Keep gas, oil, diesel, propane, natural gas, from being exported! The fuel price would go down where it should be. 7. Limit immigration to only a few per year. Ed Crawford, DMACC student By Jonathan Rangel Staff Writer After reading the Banner News’ stance on the media endorsing a candidate, I would have to say that I disagree. While it is not the media’s job to tell citizens what to do, it is the media’s job to inform the public and keep their best interest in mind. I think the media is in a position in which they are better informed when it comes to the candidates, and should make suggestions to which officials should be elected because of it. If the media avoids leaning to one side of the political spectrum, and instead focuses on what will be best for the nation, I think an endorsement could be useful to those who do not keep up with politics. As long as the news organization gives clear reasons why a particular candidate would be better suited for office as opposed to the others, such as bipartisan efforts or a solid economic plan, I think it is a good idea. The Des Moines Register has endorsed congressional candidates and listed reasons why they chose to endorse who they did; the platform on which each stands on looks more promising for Iowans than their opponents. Personally, I think the DMACC Banner could have looked at the candidates and made suggestion as to which candidates would represent the students of DMACC the best. Doing so would have not only informed the students as to which candidates would have the students’ best interest in mind, but also helped guide them on Election Day. By Cainon Leeds Staff Writer In the last issue of the Banner, I said that DMACC Boone’s student newspaper would not be endorsing any candidates this election season unless I heard a dissenting view from students. Here’s the reasoning behind my decision: I don’t think an endorsement from the Banner News would matter to the election, and if it would, I don’t want people becoming so dependent on any one news source that an endorsement would mean swaying their otherwise made up mind. I’m asking readers to look at this issue from my point of view for a moment. What if, hypothetically speaking, a major news organization decided to endorse Barack Obama for president. Would any undecided or Romney supporting viewers decide then and there to vote for President Obama based on CNN’s endorsement alone? If readers had that sort of mindset, it would give CNN quite a bit of influence in the election. However, that was just an idea of what could happen. Allow me to present a real life example of a newspaper endorsing a political candidate: the “Des Moines Register” officially endorsed presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, for office on Sunday, October 28. Does that change my vote for president? No. Did it change the minds of the readers of the “Des Moines Register?” Maybe. According to senior political analyst Michael Barone of “The Examiner”, the endorsement of the “Des Moines Register” could sway key voters in Iowa, an important swing state. Of course, we won’t know the true impact of the “Register” until after election day. Nevertheless, even if the Banner had as much political power as the “Register,” I would be hesitant to use such power for fear of abusing it. As Thomas Jefferson once said, “I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us that the less we use our power the greater it will be.” In a republic, I believe voters should be informed on where candidates stand, but not told whom to vote for. That is why the Banner chose not to endorse any candidates this election season. |
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