Iowa Future Caucus Tackles the Partisan Divide

Some of Iowa’s youngest state lawmakers have made a plan to break through partisan gridlock and foster cooperation between Democrats and Republicans. On this News Buzz edition of River to River, host Emily Woodbury talks with two members of the Iowa Future Caucus, Senator Zack Wahls and Representative Joe Mitchell, about their priorities at the capitol and why they feel they are well equipped to tackle the partisan divide.

The Iowa Future Caucus is part of the Millennial Action Project, a national nonpartisan organization that seeks to support similar Caucuses across the country. Iowa is the 28th state to become involved with this initiative.

As freshman legislators, both Wahls and Mitchell are new to the Iowa Statehouse. Mitchell says they’ve been met with a lot of support for the new caucus. 

“Sometimes from an outside perspective you think that there’s no way that a Republican and Democrat can go out and have a drink or go out to dinner or something. Once you get in there you realize that it’s a lot more of a different environment than the news might portray,” he says.

Wahls cites a number of issues important to Iowans that don’t have a partisan affiliation, such as fostering population growth and reversing brain drain, that the Future Caucus is committed to addressing. 

“The thing that brings us together is not our partisan affiliation but the fact that we both are deeply invested in the future of our state,” he says.

Iowa Future Caucus Tackles the Partisan Divide

Some of Iowa’s youngest state lawmakers have made a plan to break through partisan gridlock and foster cooperation between Democrats and Republicans. On this News Buzz edition of River to River, host Emily Woodbury talks with two members of the Iowa Future Caucus, Senator Zack Wahls and Representative Joe Mitchell, about their priorities at the capitol and why they feel they are well equipped to tackle the partisan divide.