How the Democratic Party will handle the resignation of its leader as Iowa heads into the 2018 gubernatorial election remains unknown.
By Molly Hunter
The coming months will determine how the Iowa Democratic Party deals with the resignation of Derek Eadon, its recently elected head.
“Today, with a heavy heart, I am announcing my resignation as chair of the Iowa Democratic Party,” Eadon said in a June 29 statement. “In recent months, I have been dealing with health issues and missing too much time on the job.”
In the statement, he said his recently diagnosed trigeminal neuralgia, “a painful but nonlethal ailment,” will require radiation treatment over the next few months.
“It is important that this party has a chair that can dedicate all of his or her time to this effort, and it is clear that I am not able to,” Eadon said in the statement.
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Tim Hagle, a UI associate professor of political science, said Eadon’s resignation is unfortunate.
“I know that people from both parties are hoping he’s able to overcome [his health problems] and come back and rejoin the political fray,” Hagle said.
Indeed, a June 29 statement from Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ office expressed sympathy about Eadon’s situation.
“Our thoughts [and] prayers are with Derek as he undergoes treatment for serious health issues,” the statement said.
In the statement announcing his resignation, he expressed optimism about the future of the party.
“This is going to be an outstanding election for Iowa Democrats, and whoever is elected as the new chair on July 22 will inherit a great team, a solid amount of cash on hand, and fantastic candidates,” he said. “The last five months have shown me just how strong this party is.”
It will be up to the Democratic Party’s activists, Hagle said, to make sure that the Democratic candidate who emerges from the primary is supported.
“Some people I know have suggested Democrats may not be able to mount a challenge,” he said.
But Hagle said it’s too early in the game to make that call.
“We’re a long way off yet, and if you’ve been following this, you’ll know there were a large number of Democrats who expressed an interest in running; either they declared they’re running or they had exploratory committees … and a few of those dropped out.”
In the end, Hagle said, the final number of Democrats heading into the primary remains to be seen.
Many of the Democratic candidates will need to focus on raising their name recognition, Hagle said.
“Other than former Chair Andy McGuire, most of the other candidates don’t have statewide name ID,” he said. “If they have a primary, that’s one way they can raise name ID.”
With low name recognition, Hagle said, it will be hard for Democrats to challenge Reynolds, but he said the Democratic base still seems fired up.
“We’ll have to see if that continues,” he said. “They’ve got a long time to work on it, because they’ll have to go through the primary process, and [the change in leadership] won’t really affect what’s going on too much until [after the primary].”