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Charging incredible incompetency and disservice to Iowa voters, Jim Mowrer of Des Moines is considering challenging Secretary of State Paul Pate in 2018.

Mowrer, whose experience in conducting elections goes back to helping fellow Iowa Army National Guard members vote while in Iraq in 2006, said Pate is trying to make it as expensive and difficult as possible.

Mowrer, 31, a two-time Democratic candidate for the U.S. House, now works for an Iowa human services nonprofit agency and is an adjunct instructor at Grand View University in Des Moines.

In conversations with county auditors Republicans and Democrats, he said, who oversee elections Mowrer has heard that Pates office does not work well with them.

Thats really what its about working with county auditors and others to make sure our elections are as free and fair and secure as possible, Mowrer said Friday. Frankly, thats not happening right now.

In addition to voting registration and election systems, the Secretary of States Office business functions are out-of-date and way behind the times compared to what other states are doing with online instant filings, he said.

Theres a lot of work that needs to be done, Mowrer said, adding it would be similar to work he did at the Army Office of Business Transformation at the Pentagon to improve business practices.

Pate, a former state senator and mayor of Cedar Rapids, was elected secretary of state in 2014 after having previously served in that office from 1995-99. He has often spoken of the lack of funding to update hardware and software, some of which is no longer available from the manufacturers.

Mowrer attributed that to severe mismanagement by Pate.

Rather than get funds to update those systems, Mowrer said, Pate went to the Legislature to get resources to make it more difficult to vote. Pate proposed the Voter Integrity Act that, among other things, will require Iowans, beginning in 2019, to show an ID before they vote.

Despite Democratic opposition, polls showed that requiring a voter ID was popular with voters.

Mowrer did not call for repealing the law but said there needs to be a reprioritization, such as returning to 40 days of early voting before Election Day. The new law reduced that to 29 days, which Mowrer said could limit voter access.

As he considers the race, Mowrer is encouraged by a June 19-21 20/20 Insight poll of 526 Iowans showing that in a head-to-head match-up he tops Pate 38 percent to 33 percent. The poll had a 4.3 percent margin of error.

Mowrer said he is talking to his family and friends about challenging Pate and expects to make a decision before Labor Day.

Other Democrats said to be considering the race are Des Moines business owner Deidre DeJear and Johnson County Auditor Travis Weipert.

l Comments: (319) 398-8375; james.lynch@thegazette.com

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Democrat Mowrer eyeing Pate challenge in 2018 - The Gazette: Eastern Iowa Breaking News and Headlines

Emma Sulkowicz / Getty Images

BY: Elizabeth Harrington July 22, 2017 5:00 am

Democratic candidate for Congress Brian Flynn received the maximum campaign contribution from Emma Sulkowicz, the Mattress Girl who made questionable allegations of rape against a classmate at Columbia University.

Sulkowicz, whose art performances now include being tied up and beaten in front of onlookers to protest President Donald Trump, contributed the maximum $5,400 to Flynn's campaign, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Kerry Sulkowicz, Emma's father who is a psychoanalyst in New York City, also donated the maximum $5,400.

Flynn's office said the candidate and the Sulkowicz family are close friends and that Flynn supports Sulkowicz's artistic expression.

"Brian has known Emma and her family for years," a spokesperson said. "Her parents are longtime friends. They all donated online as soon as they heard he was running."

"Like all artists, Brian supports Emma's freedom of expression," the spokesperson added.

Sulkowicz received notoriety after accusing a college friend of raping her in 2013, and using the accusation for her senior art thesis project by carrying a dorm mattress around campus. The height of her mattress fame came when she attended the State of the Union address in 2015 as Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's guest.

Her allegations have since been called into question. The university cleared her accused classmate, Paul Nungesser, of any wrongdoing, and a police investigation did not produce any charges.

Nungesser recently received a settlement from Columbia for a Title IX lawsuit that argued the university mishandled the sexual assault allegations by allowing Sulkowicz to harass Nungesser with the mattress stunt. Sulkowicz even crossed her graduation stage carrying the mattress.

Sulkowicz, a Hillary Clinton supporter, followed up the mattress act with another art project many have described as a sex tape. Earlier this year she added teeth to a pink vagina sweater.

Sulkowicz is now "channeling her rage through BDSM."

"Her most recent piece, in which she was bound, berated, and hung from the ceiling, tackles the question of the value of art under the Trump administration," according to Vice.

Sulkowicz's performance at the Whitney Museum in New York City involves an older bearded man tying her up, beating her with his belt, and asking audience members if they want to slap her. She argues the performance is about an "intense questioning of art and politics."

"[I chose] to have a white man tie me up while wearing a business suit with a Whitney necktie, while I wear a Whitney ISP thong bikini," Sulkowicz said. The man is a "close friend" and trained dominatrix, she said.

Female viewers have been so concerned that they have requested a "trigger warning" before the performance.

Sulkowicz also showed her disdain for white male artists in the VICE interview, saying she is no fan of Jackson Pollock.

"White men have the privilege of entire institutions built for their paintings. These paintings are very often abstract," she said. "You have people like Pollock splattering a bunch of shit and then saying it's art. It doesn't say anything political and in fact, that actual political statement it does say is: I'm a white man and I can do whatever the fuck I want and make a ton of money off of it.'"

Sulkowicz did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Flynn is a "lifelong progressive Democrat" running in the Democratic primary to represent New York's 19th district. He established himself as a legitimate contender in the race after donating $500,000 to his own campaign.

His campaign website claims that America has a "disturbing culture of misogyny."

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Mattress Girl Maxes Out to Democrat Congressional Candidate - Washington Free Beacon

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Department of Water Resources endorses $16 billion water tunnels

Two Ukiah residents killed in collision with semi-truck

In Emerald Triangle, rush for legal cannabis, but trickle in Sonoma County

Vandals target Windsor Middle School

Pristine Sonoma Coast campground still closed due to winter storm damage

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CHRISTI WARREN

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT | July 21, 2017, 8:17PM

| Updated 3 hours ago.

Two Ukiah residents were killed in a three-vehicle crash Friday morning on Highway 20 in Redwood Valley, authorities reported.

About 8:50 a.m., a 70-year-old female driver and her 77-year-old male passenger, were in a 2015 Nissan Altima attempting to turn east onto Highway 20 from Road 144, when they were struck by an oncoming westbound 2009 Nissan Titan truck, driven by Jaime Alberto Lopez, Jr., according to the California Highway Patrol.

The collision forced the Altima driver to lose control, careening into the eastbound lane of Highway 20, directly into the path of an oncoming semi-truck with multiple trailers attached.

The semi-truck, driven by Ward Mckee Jory, 52, of Lodi was unable to stop before colliding with the passenger side of the Altima, killing both people inside, the CHP said. Their names were not released.

Lopez, 25, of Lakeport was taken to Frank R. Howard Memorial Hospital with moderate injuries.

Jory was uninjured.

Authorities do not believe drugs or alcohol were a factor in the crash.

You can reach Staff Writer Christi Warren at 707-521-5205 or christi.warren@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @SeaWarren.

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As the 2016 Republican presidential primary race got underway, Anthony Scaramucci was a surrogate for an opponent of the man who became his new boss Friday, Donald Trump, which is not unusual in the world of political operatives.

But in an Aug. 24, 2015, appearance as a panelist on the Fox Business Network, Scaramucci named Friday as Trumps new communications director got personal, calling Trump a big mouth, a class divider and a Democratic plant to help Hillary Clinton win.

As a surrogate for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, hepredicted Trump would exit the race by Thanksgiving of 2015.

Like the reporting you see here? Sign up for free news alerts from WND.com, Americas independent news network.

The two-year-old remarks were brought up by a reporterat the White House press briefing Friday.

Scaramucci, signaling all has been forgiven, joked that Trump, a fellow New Yorker, brings it up every 15 seconds.

I never should have said that about him, Scaramucci said, calling it one of the biggest mistakes I made, because I was an inexperienced person in politics and was supporting another candidate.

I love the president, and Im very, very loyal to the president, and I love the mission the president has, he said.

Long Island-born Scaramucci, noting he grew up in the middle class and has empathy for the struggle,praised Trump for his love for the people.

What do YOU think? Sound off in todays WND poll on Trump White House communications shakeup.

He worked with Trump during the general-election campaign and the transition, and has been a passionate defender of the president in TV interviews this year.

In the 2015 Fox Business segment,Scaramucci, who served as senior vice president and chief strategy officer at the U.S. Export-Import Bank, was reacting to audio of Trump criticizing hedge fund managers.

He called Trump a hack politician who is probably going to make Elizabeth Warren his vice presidential nominee, with comments like that.

The Wall Street entrepreneur said that if Trump is going to be president, it will be of the Queens County Bullies Association.

Addressing Trump directly, he said, Youve got to cut it out now and stop all this crazy rhetoric.

I dont like the way he talks about women, I dont like the way he talks about our friend Megyn Kelly, Scaramucci said. And, do you know what? The politicians dont want to go at Trump because hes got a big mouth and theyre afraid hes going to light it up on Fox News and all these other places.

But, Im not a politician. Bring it. Youre an inherited money dude from Queens County. Bring it, Donald.

Scaramucci said he believed Trumps record would doom his candidacy, causing him to implode by the fall of 2015.

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Scaramucci reminded he ripped 'big mouth' Trump as 'Democrat plant' - WND.com

Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton plans to offer an amendment that puts the House on record supporting Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe and committing that it will provide any resources it needs for the team of lawyers at the Justice Department. The proposal would be attached to the House GOP crafted budget resolution.

CNN obtained a copy of the amendment, which states, "It is the policy of the resolution that to restore confidence in our government and to preserve the sanctity of our electoral process Congress must ensure adequate funding for the Special Counsel appointed by the Department of Justice so that he can perform a thorough and nonpartisan investigation of Russian's campaign to affect the 2016 US presidential election and any individuals in the United States that may have colluded in those efforts."

Moulton, a former Marine who served multiple tours in Iraq, plans to argue at Wednesday's budget markup that one thing that both parties can agree on is the importance of democratic elections, essentially daring Republicans on the committee to oppose the amendment.

House Republicans unveiled their budget proposal Tuesday, and Wednesday's committee markup is expected to last late into the night, with Democrats attempting to attach a variety of amendments that are expected to be rejected on party line votes. It's unclear whether Democrats will press for other amendments related to Russia.

House GOP leaders are still determining whether they have the support to bring the budget to the floor for a full House vote if it clears the committee this week.

According to prepared remarks Moulton will also ask, "Did you ever ask what your father or grandfather did in World War II? Our grandchildren will ask us, 'Where did we stand when Russia attacked the United States?' That's how serious this is. Think about what your grandson will say when he reads about you someday. Did you have the courage to stand up for our country, our Constitution, and our values, or did you vote this down because your party bosses told you to?"

Congressional Republicans have been publicly supportive of Mueller. House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell both praised his appointment as special counsel, and there has been no indication on Capitol Hill that the GOP-controlled Congress would attempt to undermine his efforts or withhold any resources for his team.

Bipartisan investigations by both the House and Senate intelligence committees are ramping up, with both panels bringing in witnesses and holding hearings, including the public hearing with former FBI Director James Comey, who testified before the Senate in June.

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First on CNN: House Democrat to try to force GOP to go on record supporting Russia probe - CNN