Iowa Starting Line

3 days ago | iowastartingline.com | Zachary Oren Smith

When Ajai Long finished high school, she found herself spiraling. Instability at home led her to couch-hop. Couch-hopping left her feeling rootless. “I knew I didn’t want to go the way I was,” Long said. She spoke with a friend who told her about a program in Ottumwa. She’d have a place to stay and food to eat. And in the end, the program promised she’d have the skills to build a career. Ottumwa Job Corps is one of 99 sites across the country serving over 25,000 vulnerable young adults.

1 week ago | iowastartingline.com | Zachary Oren Smith

Iowa law professor Christina Bohannan wants another rematch in 2026. She lost to US Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks in 2024 in a nationally-discussed squeaker that came down to just 799 votes. “Mariannette Miller-Meeks has had three terms in Congress–three chances to do right by the people of Iowa,” Bohannan said in her campaign announcement.

2 weeks ago | iowastartingline.com | Zachary Oren Smith

State Sen. Zach Wahls (D-Coralville) ended months of speculation Wednesday morning by announcing he will challenge Republican US Sen. Joni Ernst for her seat in 2026. The 33-year-old from Coralville told Iowa Starting Line that he is framing his campaign around the economy. “Hardworking Iowans aren’t getting ahead,” he said on our podcast, Cornhole Champions. “It’s being rigged to benefit those at the very top.”Wahls added that  his family’s finances Are strained by daycare costs for his child.

3 weeks ago | iowastartingline.com | Zachary Oren Smith

Andrew Wold stood in a metal fabrication shop off State Street in Bettendorf, Iowa. It was the last Sunday of a hot May in 2023. And he was showing pictures of a problem he was having at a six-story brick building he owned in Davenport. The problem: along the western wall, bricks were visibly cracked and crumbling. Wold had people working on it at the time and he needed to secure some steel beams—and fast. He was in the shop when his phone buzzed. Wold looked at the screen and covered his mouth.

4 weeks ago | iowastartingline.com | Ashley Adams

Since Iowa’s near-total abortion ban went into effect in July 2024, the number of residents seeking abortion care outside the state has surged dramatically. So has the number of people turning to abortion funds for help. It’s a story that has become all too familiar in Iowa since last year: People seeking abortions are forced to go out of state, because they find out they’re pregnant too late to legally get care in Iowa.