Basu: So much is at stake in elections on Tuesday | The Des Moines Register | DesMoinesRegister.com

Basu: So much is at stake in elections on Tuesday | The Des Moines Register | DesMoinesRegister.com


Election Day may not carry the same level of campaigning or suspense as next year’s will. But in various states, including our own, key rights as fundamental as marriage and the ability to choose whether to have a baby hang on the outcomes. And since those could help chart a path for where the country is headed, many of us could be indirectly affected.

A special state Senate election in eastern Iowa will determine if Democrats hang on to the majority. That slim margin has so far enabled Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal to fend off attempts to amend the constitution to ban same-sex marriages, keep state-funded preschool for 4-year-olds, and hold out against weakened collective bargaining rights of public employees.

The election became necessary after Gov. Terry Branstad, in a shrewd political move for his Republican Party, plucked the sitting Democratic senator for District 18, Swati Dandekar, to be on the Iowa Utilities Board. If Republican Cindy Golding beats Democrat Liz Mathis for the vacated seat, those issues and more could reappear.

A Golding victory would create a tie in the Senate, with the House still in conservatives’ hands. That would allow Branstad to pursue his pro-business, government-cutting agenda, and threaten future regulations on businesses, adequate funding for education, and workers’ rights.

The future of same-sex marriage, which has drawn national attention to this race, could be the most affected. Opponents are hoping to get a constitutional amendment against it on a future ballot, but it would first have to clear the Legislature. Golding’s campaign is supported by opponent groups, including the National Organization for Marriage. Anti-gay crusader Bob Vander Plaats, who last year engineered the campaign to remove three Iowa Supreme Court justices over their same-sex marriage ruling, gleefully calls the election “a great opportunity to break the handcuffs.” Branstad has long favored subjecting the right to marry to a statewide vote.

If they prevail, what a sad day for Iowa. We have not seen one negative consequence from same-sex marriage, but we’ve received plenty of positive economic activity, and nationwide kudos for our progressivism.