By Ryan Hansen, Iowa City Press-Citizen
Iowa City, IA-U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders said the Iowa Democratic Party “in some ways” has “itself to blame” for losing the first-in-the-nation status it held for more than 50 years.
In an interview Saturday following a visit to Iowa City as part of his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, the independent senator from Vermont and former Democratic presidential candidate said the party must take some blame for the handling of the 2020 caucuses and cannot place all the blame on the voting behavior of voters in recent elections.
Sanders alluded to problems with the reporting of results that overshadowed the 2020 Iowa Caucuses.
“I can tell you from a very personal experience, they did not conduct those primaries as well as they should have,” Sanders said. “And I think that left a bad taste.”
Sanders and former Biden transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg were nearly dead even in that 2020 race, but inconsistencies in county party data led the Associated Press to avoid declaring a winner. It was a rare abstention from AP, the news organization often relied on to track and “call” the outcomes of races.
An Iowa Democratic Party-commissioned audit of the process placed some blame on the national Democratic party that “aggressively interjected itself” into the caucuses and slowed or complicated the party’s efforts, the Register reported in 2020.
In plans announced in late 2022, the Democratic National Committee announced it would opt against keeping Iowa as the first state on its primary and caucus schedule. The decision was sparked by a party desire to elevate Black voices and marked a “seismic shift in the way America chooses its leaders,” the Register reported.
Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen
Future of Democratic Party relies on ‘radical change’ to approach, Sanders says
Republicans took hold of the U.S. House of Representatives, Senate and White House in November, a move that President Donald Trump has called a mandate from voters. Sanders says Democrats “by and large” have themselves to blame for the triad of Republican control.
The Democratic Party was long the champion of the working class, Sanders said, but in recent years has, “turned its back on working people and become a party more of corporate interests and consultants.”
He pointed to a health care system that he called “broken” and said people cannot afford food, health care and child care.
“I think if the Democratic Party is going to be successful, they’re going to have to really radically change their approach, stand with working families and take on very powerful special interests whose greed is causing massive problems in this country,” Sanders said.
He did not speculate about candidates on a national level and said he was not informed enough about state-level politics to toss out a name for the future of the Iowa Democratic Party.
Sanders said voter turnout is important and noted that former Vice President Kamala Harris would have been elected if Democrats turned out as well as they did in 2020. But, he said, “You can’t create a strong voter turnout unless you have something that excites people.”
The party’s agenda must “speak for the needs of working people, of young people” and candidates must understand that the country’s current systems are “broken,” from health care to minimum wage to Medicare to insurance, Sanders said.
“You need candidates who have got the guts to stand with the elderly, the kids, working families,” Sanders said. “You get that, the rest will fall into place.”
During his event, he also called on Iowans to get involved and to speak out against the new Trump administration. The event was held in Iowa City because Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks narrowly won reelection last fall and analysts believe it will be a competitive district in 2026. Sanders encouraged residents to pressure her to vote against legislation, saying it only takes two Republicans in the U.S. House to deflect to stop bills from passing.
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