POTTAWATTAMIE 46 precincts
20 precincts in Council Bluffs, 26 precincts outside.
Pottawattamie County County Seat: Council Bluffs
More Cities and Towns: Avoca, Carson, Carter Lake, Crescent, Hancock, Macedonia, McClelland, Minden, Neola, Oakland, Treynor, Underwood, Walnut.
 
Population, July 2002 est.: 88,157.    - 3.00% of total IA population of 2,936,760.
Registered Democrats (Active Aug. 1, 2003): 13,634.    - 2.59% of Democratic statewide total of 526,207.

Partisanship
Pottawattamie County Reg. (Active Aug. 1, 2003): Rep. 19,168 (38.89%)  Dem. 13,634 (27.66%)   NP16,488 (33.45%)    Total: 49,292.
Total IA Reg. (Active. Aug. 1, 2003): Rep. 580,252 (32.45%)   Dem. 526,207 (29.43%)  Grn. 135   NP 681,394 (38.11%)  Total: 1,787,988.

Representation
Pottawattamie County Democratic Elected Officials
State Senators 
(Pottawattamie County encompasses Senate District 50 and parts of Districts 28 and 49)
50 - Michael Gronstal of Council Bluffs
State Representatives
(Pottawattamie County encompasses House Districts 99 and 100 and parts of 98, 56 and 57)
99 - Doug Struyk of Council Bluffs
100 - Paul Shomshor of Council Bluffs
Treasurer Judy Miller
Assessor James J. O'Neill
Council Bluffs Mayor Tom Hanafan
 
 
Pottawattamie County Democratic Party
Pottawattamie County Democrats
County Chair: Jean Hartwell of McClelland
Vice Chair: Chuck Wredt
Vice Chair: Georgia Sievers
Treasurer: Helen E. Baurnel
Secretary: Sue Lett
. Useful Links
Council Bluffs Chamber of Commerce
City of Omaha

Media
Daily Nonpareil (Council Bluffs)
Omaha World Herald
WOWT-6 (NBC-Omaha)
KETV-7 (ABC-Omaha)
KMTV-3 (CBS-Omaha)
 

The Campaigns In Pottawattamie County
Dean for America -- 622 4th Street, Council Bluffs    (first to open office)   ...Matt Hurm   (Regional Director: Nat Willems)
Edwards for President, Inc.  -- 711 South Main Street, Council Bluffs   ...Pat Maloney
Gephardt for President, Inc. -- 25 S. 15th Street, Suite 7, Council Bluffs
John Kerry for President, Inc.  -- 148 West Broadway, Council Bluffs   ...Matt DeFerranti
Kucinich for President -- 2307 Third Ave, Council Bluffs  ...Warren Yaple
former
Bob Graham for President, Inc. -- 500 Willow Avenue, Council Bluffs
 

Key Supporters
Titles and affiliations are listed for identification purposes only.
Howard Dean
Linda Nelson - ISEA executive board member; former state Representative, Council Bluffs. ...initially announced Aug. 5, 2003; announced as part of Dean's statewide leadership team Sept. 2003.

Jean Hartwell - Pottawattamie Democratic County Chair and Member of the State Central Committee

Labor Support (Aug. 28, 2003)
Ed Bremmer, ISEA former, Council Bluffs
Jim Gorman, APWU #510 former, Council Bluffs
Steve Gorman, IAFF Local #15 former, Council Bluffs
Chris Gorman, ISEA, Council Bluffs
Ralph May, TCU Local #763 former, Council Bluffs
Bill Kuhn, TCU Local #763 former, Carter Lake
Helen Hummer, ISEA, Oakland
Dale Driver, ISEA former, Council Bluffs
 

John Edwards
(April 4, May 29 and Aug. 22 releases)
Tom Brooks - union activist, Honey Creek    ...Aug. 22, 2003
 

John Kerry
State Leadership (Oct. 9, 2003)
Bob Dodder - Iowa Democratic State Central Committee member

Pottawattamie County Chair, Veterans for Kerry
Andy Trautman, Council Bluffs   ...Army, Vietnam

Labor Support (Aug. 18, 2003 release)
Russ Lett - Amalgamated Transit Union Local 323    (also on Oct. 9, 2003 list)
Chuck Wredt - American Postal Workers Union Local 11
 

Dennis Kucinich
Rank and File Iowa Labor for Kucinich (Sept. 1, 2003)
Mike Marvin - Transport Workers Union Local 223, Council Bluffs
 

Joe Lieberman
Rep. Doug Struyk (District 99, Council Bluffs)   ...announced July 17, 2003
Rep. Paul Shomshor of Council Bluffs  ...announced April 10, 2003
(Shomshor was elected in a Special Election in summer 2003; at the time he endorsed Lieberman he was a Council Bluffs city councilman; in 2002 he was Democratic nominee for the 5th CD).
 
November 18, 2003 photos.


Daily Nonpareil

Notes
The economy of Council Bluffs is closely tied to that of Omaha, NE (Douglas County), across the Missouri River.  Epley Airfield in Omaha provides the quickest way to fly into the area, Council Bluffs is in the Omaha media market, and many Council Bluffians work in Omaha.  On the political front, Democratic volunteers come over from Omaha to help on the campaigns, knowing they can have an impact on the national politics.  Pottawattamie County itself, in addition to Council Bluffs, has large rural areas, which, with sparser, aging populations, are harder to organize.
 

Copyright © 2003 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action.