Rita Hart reelected to lead Iowa Democratic Party, looks for gains in 2026 election.

Rita Hart will serve another four years as chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, promising to rebuild the party’s infrastructure and reestablish the Democratic brand in Iowa following years of compounding election losses.

Hart was easily reelected Saturday by the party’s state central committee, winning 38 of 49 votes.

“I want you to know that I am ready to go to work and I am looking forward to working with each and every one of you as we go forward,” Hart told the group.

She faced three challengers — Kim Callahan, Alexandra Nickolas-Dermody and Tim Winter — who spoke about the need to reach younger voters, to energize Democrats at the county level and rebuild trust with Iowa voters.

The chair previously served two-year terms, but Democrats voted to change that through their convention process last year.

Hart issued a letter to members of the committee ahead of the vote outlining her vision for the party.

She wrote that she took office in January 2023 when the party had just two-and-a-half staffers and about $100,000 in debt. But she said the institution has stabilized under her leadership.

“Things were pretty dire here,” she told reporters. “… It was a hard slog. And so there were a lot of things that I knew needed to be done, especially in that off year of ’23, that I just simply didn’t have the staff to do, I didn’t have the resources to do.

“… So, these things are in place now. We have the staff. We have the resources. We know what needs to be done, and I’m excited about getting off and running here in ’25. I think it’s going to make a huge difference.”

She said she hopes that serving another four years will create some continuity of leadership for the party, which she said has churned through seven party chairs since 2014.

Iowa Democrats had hoped to begin reversing their losses in 2024, but Republicans held all four U.S. House seats, grew their legislative majorities, and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump grew his support in nearly every county in the state over his 2020 showing.

More: A ‘ruby red’ Iowa comes as a ‘gut punch’ for Democrats: 6 takeaways from election night

“It was not pretty,” Hart told reporters. “But again, as we crunch those numbers, we see that it was not pretty all the way across the country, right? And that, while it’s little comfort, we did not move as far to the right as many other states did, right? So there’s some comfort in that. And there were some bright spots.”

She pointed to some county supervisor races where Democrats prevailed and Iowa’s 1^st Congressional District race where Democrat Christina Bohannan kept the margin to about 600 votes with U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks.

Democrats are also eyeing 2026, which are midterm elections that historically have proven difficult for the party that holds the White House. Iowa Democrats are hopeful they can take advantage of that potential pushback to a Trump administration and gain seats.

In Iowa, statewide races for governor, auditor, treasurer, secretary of state and attorney general will all be on the 2026 ballot, as well as all four U.S. House seats and the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Joni Ernst.

“IDP must be part of the conversation of what it means to fix the ‘brand’ of Iowa Democrats,” Hart wrote in her letter. “This will be an ecosystem-wide conversation including elected officials, candidates, and partner organizations.”

Rita Hart will lead ‘family conversation’ about the future of Iowa’s presidential caucuses

Hart said she also will lead a “family conversation” about the future of Iowa’s presidential caucuses.

The Democratic National Committee stripped Iowa Democrats of their place as the lead-off state for their 2024 presidential nominating calendar. While New Hampshire, which also lost its official status, has forged ahead with an unsanctioned first-in-the-nation primary, Iowa Democrats chose to acquiesce to the DNC and change its process.

In her strategic plan, Hart said she intends to hold a series of forums to discuss priorities around timing of the caucuses, who can participate, associated cost, how to tabulate preferences and how and whether to comply with state law and DNC mandates.

“I’ve had many conversations already, since the election even,” Hart told reporters. “And it’s clear we’re not in agreement. And so that’s a process that we need to go through to talk about what makes sense for us — what’s in Iowa’s best interest.”

But she touted the potential benefits of Iowa’s caucuses to the national party, saying she thinks it was a mistake for the DNC to remove middle America’s representation from the nominating process.

The DNC will select a new chair early this year as well, and Hart said that could make a big difference in how those conversations unfold.

“We really recognize that we’re in a much different position than we were two years ago, and we’ll see what we’re able to do to put our best foot forward,” she said. “Because I still believe, as I’ve said so many times throughout this cycle, that Iowa deserves a place.”

Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Des Moines Register. She is also covering the 2024 presidential race for USA TODAY as a senior national campaign correspondent. Reach her at bpfann@dmreg.com or 515-284-8244. Follow her on X at @brianneDMR.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Rita Hart reelected to lead Iowa Democratic Party over 3 challengers

EMEA Tribune is not involved in this news article, it is taken from our partners and or from the News Agencies. Copyright and Credit go to the News Agencies, email news@emeatribune.com Follow our WhatsApp verified Channel