Iowa — Delegates at the Iowa Republican Party’s state convention voted to include a policy statement on marriage in the party’s 2024 platform.
A 2022 law requires the federal government to recognize marriages as long as they were valid in the state where the marriage took place. Three Iowa Republicans — U.S. Senator Joni Ernst and Congresswomen Ashley Hinson and Mariannette Miller-Meeks — voted for it. A majority of delegates at this weekend’s Iowa GOP state convention voted to encourage repeal of any law allowing marriage that’s not between one man and one woman. Iowa County delegate Brad Sherman, author of the platform plank, said the legal recognition of same-sex marriages violates religious freedom. “The attack on marriage and the family that we have seen is part of a strategic effort to destabilize our culture and destroy our nation,” he said. Thomas Hansen of Winnehiek County says having government define marriage is the problem, because it has led to edicts from the court and Congress.
Patrick Geren of Pottawattamie County was also among the minority of delegates who opposed the policy statement. “People have the right to disagree with our religious beliefs and to follow their own conscience,” he said. Gary Leffler of Polk County said the party needs to stand on principle.
A similar statement was included in the party’s 2022 platform. One of the first debates among delegates at this weekend’s GOP convention was about gender balance rules. David Chung of Davenport argued the national party should do away with requirements that each state have a National Committeeman and National Committeewoman. There’s also a rule that the national party have a female co-chair if the chair is a man — and vice versa.
A majority of delegates voted against Chung’s proposal, but a member of the Iowa GOP’s governing board said party leaders will discuss the issue.
