(Above: Andy McKean)

Andy McKean has served in the Iowa State House for a total of 24 years and chances are he would still be in the GOP if not for one thing…Donald Trump.

Bleeding Heartland

“State Representative Andy McKean has left the Republican caucus. His official page on the Iowa legislature’s website now lists “no party specified,” and the Iowa House Republicans website no longer lists him as a member. His legislative page also indicates that he has lost all House committee assignments, as of April 23. McKean had chaired the House Ethics Committee and served on the Environmental Protection, Judiciary, Local Government, and State Government committees.

A lifelong Republican until this week, McKean served in the Iowa House for fourteen years and in the Senate for ten years before retiring from the legislature in 2002. He later was elected several times as a Jones County supervisor before running for House district 58, an open seat, in 2016. McKean won re-election with nearly 70 percent of the vote in 2018, even though his district has long had a Democratic voter registration advantage.

McKean has voted against some high-profile Republican bills, including the 2017 legislation to eviscerate public employee collective bargaining rights and the 2018 effort to ban most abortions after a fetal heartbeat could be detected. He has opposed this year’s proposals to change Iowa’s system for choosing judges and add a surcharge to small-scale solar power users. McKean also voted against a bill to allow supervised children to hunt deer with a “pistol or revolver.”

Yes, he has disagreed with some of the Republican Parties more extreme positions in recent years but chances are he would still be there, instead of switching parties (the Bleeding Hearland piece catches up with that further down the page) if not for one big orange impediment…Trump.

From his announcement, read in the Iowa Senate chamber:

 “I might have limped along attempting to work within my caucus for what I felt was best for the people I represent if it hadn’t been for another factor. With the 2020 presidential election looming on the horizon, I feel, as a Republican, that I need to be able to support the standard bearer of our party. Unfortunately, that is something I’m unable to do.

I believe that it is just a matter of time before our country pays a heavy price for President Trump’s reckless spending and short-sighted financial policies, his erratic, destabilizing foreign policy, and his disregard for environmental concerns. Furthermore, he sets, in my opinion, a poor example for the nation and particularly for our children by personally insulting, often in a crude and juvenile fashion, those who disagree with him, being a bully at a time when we’re attempting to discourage bullying, his frequent disregard for the truth, and has willingness to ridicule or marginalize people for their appearance, ethnicity, or disability. I believe that his actions have coarsened political discourse, have resulted in unprecedented divisiveness, and have created an atmosphere that is a breeding ground for hateful rhetoric and actions. Some would excuse this behavior as telling it like it is and the new normal. If this is the new normal, I want no part of it. Unacceptable behavior should be called out for what is and Americans of all parties should insist on something far better in the leader of their country and the free world.”

For those of you Twitter enabled here is his announcement:

(Others can read the speech at the provided link).

If McKean chooses to run again as a Democrat, and chip away further at the thin Republican margin there I would urge Iowa Democrats to take a hard look at his positions and decide whether they can support him in the primary.

We need every available hand in our bucket brigade if we are to douse the raging fire of autocracy that threatens our home.

Please follow me on Twitter @durrati

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