Pleasant Hill, IA – The people of the State of Iowa were finally given a voice. A year and a half since the Iowa Supreme Court legislated from the bench, redefining the definition of marriage and ignoring the Laws of Nature and Legislative authority, Iowans resoundingly said “NO” to judicial activism.
After years of being thwarted by Legislative leaders like Senator Mike Gronstal and Speaker Pat Murphy, the everyday Iowans finally had a chance to speak their minds and reassert what the Iowa Constitution makes clear: “All political power is inherent in the people.”
The three Supreme Court justices up for retention, Chief Justices Marsha Ternus, David Baker, and Michael Streit, were all denied retention by the people of Iowa. By margins of over 10% for Ternus and over 8% for Baker and Streit, Iowans said “NO” to the Supreme Court justices and “YES” to exercising their rights as free citizens to reject judicial overreach.
This grassroots effort by “We the People” has been successful in two important ways:
1) It reasserted the proper role of judges to stay within the clear limits of the Constitution.
2) It reasserted common sense, and the only true definition of marriage, to a watching nation.
Responding to yesterday’s grassroots groundswell, IFPC Action President Chuck Hurley said, “The ousting of these three judges has been a vindication for the people of the great state of Iowa. Iowans have used their common sense to ask this important question: ‘When a judge can’t understand the self-evident truths from the Declaration of Independence, how can we expect them to render good judgment in all cases?”
Across the state last night, the people of Iowa asked for new leadership that will be responsive and truly representative of the people. IFPC Action is hopeful that this new leadership in the Iowa House and Governor’s Office will be forceful in working with the Senate to give Iowans our right to vote on a constitutional amendment overriding the Iowa Supreme Court’s unconstitutional decision.
The electorate showed last night that Iowans want and deserve to be allowed to join the 31 other states from all corners of the United States that have voted and uniformly reaffirmed that marriage is the union of male and female, bride and groom, one man and one woman.
States where citizens have voted on and reaffirmed the definition of marriage:
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Alabama
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Alaska
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Arizona
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Arkansas
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California
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Colorado
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Florida
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Georgia
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Hawaii
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Idaho
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Kansas
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Kentucky
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Louisiana
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Maine
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Michigan
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Mississippi
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Missouri
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Montana
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Nebraska
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Nevada
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North Dakota
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Ohio
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Oklahoma
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Oregon
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South Carolina
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South Dakota
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Tennessee
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Texas
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Utah
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Virginia
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Wisconsin
Last night, the people of Iowa showed that those who seek to circumvent or ignore the voice of the people on marriage due so at their own political peril. Iowans spoke loudly and clearly yesterday. The question now before us is this, “Will Iowa’s new leaders finally listen to what Iowans have to say?”
The Iowa Family Policy Center Action participates and leads public policy debate with the goal of strengthening and protecting families. IFPC Action also engages churches, civic influencers, and Christians with truthful, consistent information and strategies.
