By Staci DaSilva
sdasilva@kcautv.com
It was just 2 years ago in Iowa that the Governor's Office and both chambers of the legislature were all controlled by Democrats.
But now on November 6th, Republicans are trying to pull off their own trifecta.
Republicans in Iowa already hold the governorship and the House and now, they're only 4 seats away from taking over the Senate as well.
Here are the numbers right now:
Republicans control the Iowa House 60 to 40, Democrats have the Senate 26-23.
But with contentious races across the state, the Republicans could steal that Chamber from the Democrats. And that's something Republican Representative Jeremy Taylor really wants because he says it would be easier for the GOP to pass legislation like property tax reform.
Rep. Jeremy Taylor said, "It's going to be important that if we want to continue that, that the Senate is aligned with a more pro-growth agenda that's going to work for Sioux City."
And fellow Republican Ron Jorgenson couldn't agree more.
Rep. Ron Jorgenson said, "We passed a number of good pieces of legislation out of the House in the last couple years that died in the Senate and the main focus I have is doing all we can to make this state grow and prosper."
But Democrats like Representative Chris Hall say, you need more than just one point of view to lead the state.
Rep. Chris Hall said, "Split government operates pretty effectively. The extreme proposals, the kind of ideas that are on the far end of either side of the spectrum don't go that far and probably for mainstream, political purposes and what most people expect from state government, that's probably a good thing."
Also interesting, because of redistricting, Representatives Jeremy Taylor and Chris Hall are the only incumbents running against each other in the entire state.
We talked to these representatives at the "Meet The Candidates" forum put on by the Sioux City Growth Organization.
Candidates got a chance to tell the crowd a little about themselves and answer questions from the audience.
Chairman of Sioux City GO's Civic Committee Josh Pecaut said, "This is a great opportunity because we can have a more direct impact since it's a more localized election. We've also found that the people running for state office are much more willing to talk to us."
Along with Ron Jorgenson and Jeremy Taylor, candidates David Dawson and Chris Hall spoke earlier Thursday evening.
