Emily’s List decided to put its support behind former State Senator Staci Appel in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District Race. If you didn’t know, Emily’s List’s mission is to elect “pro-choice Democratic women to office.” They’re the antithesis of Susan B. Anthony List. They see Appel as being the candidate who will protect abortion on demand in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Their president, Stephanie Schriock, in a released statement said that Appel “is a shining star. She’s ready to shatter a glass ceiling by becoming the first woman to represent Iowa in Congress.”
A shining star? Appel was thumped by State Senator (then State Representative) Kent Sorenson 59% to 41% in the Iowa Senate District 37 race. So getting drummed out of the Iowa Senate makes one a shining star? Interesting. Appel is also married to Iowa Supreme Court Justice Brent Appel who voted to find Iowa’s Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. Appel herself refused to vote to give Iowa voters the ability to decide what the definition of marriage should be.
This news prompted me to go back and look at her voting record. From it we can see that she’s even further to the left than former Congressman Leonard Boswell.
Among some of her votes we see:
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She voted in favor of a sales tax increase for school infrastructure funding (4/22/08 – HF 2663).
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She voted in favor of increasing vehicle registration fees (4/15/08 – SF 2420).
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She voted in favor of a state-mandated curriculum for Iowa’s public and accredited non-public schools (2/27/08 – SF 2216).
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She voted against pregnancy counseling and support services (4/17/08 – S 5377 to SF 2425)
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She voted against prohibiting Obamacare’s individual mandate in Iowa (4/26/10 – S 5340)
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She voted to add sexual orientation and gender identity to Iowa’s Civil Rights Code as protected classes (4/25/07 – SF 427).
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She voted in favor of Iowa’s statewide preschool program (4/18/07 – HF 877).
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She voted against firearms for campus police (4/18/07 – S 3371).
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She voted for mandatory sex education in Iowa’s schools (4/10/07 – HF 611).
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She voted for required evaluations of potential greenhouse gas emissions (4/2/07 – SF 485).
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She voted in favor of same-day voter registration (3/27/07 – HF 653).
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She voted in favor of stem cell research in Iowa (2/14/07 – SF 162).
Staci Appel is too extreme for Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District. We need to reelect Congressman Tom Latham.
Photo Credit: IowaPolitics.com via Flickr (CC By SA 2.0)