Iowa House and Senate Democrats voted this week to stick with their leaders, despite losses in the 2010 election.
Representative Kevin McCarthy (D-Des Moines) was re-elected the leader of House Democrats but will now serve as the minority leader instead of the majority leader. He said the caucus saw its losses in the 2010 election as part of a nationwide setback for Democrats, and did not blame individual decisions made by legislative leaders here.
“There was not a lot we could do in this campaign environment to stop that trend,” McCarthy said. “Some serious setbacks were dealt to Democrats nationally, really pretty epic in scope in what occurred around the country. We are very united as a caucus and hopeful and optimistic about the future because when you have setbacks politically like occurred recently in the election, the opportunity for moving the ball down the field for future success is much, much greater.”
