T-R PHOTOS BY ROBERT MAHARRY - Marshall County Democratic Party Chairman Joshua Drewelow, left, addresses the crowd of approximately 50 people gathered for the off-year caucus at the Marshalltown Arts and Civic Center (MACC) while Bonnie Grimmius, right, looks on Saturday morning.

Marshall County Democratic Party Chairman Josh Drewelow had a simple message for the approximately 50 people in attendance at the off-year caucus inside the Marshalltown Arts and Civic Center (MACC) on Saturday morning: We can’t do this alone.

As Republicans currently hold every elected office in the county, a comfortable trifecta in the state government, both houses of Congress and the White House at the federal level, Drewelow said his goal as the party chairman is to build grassroots momentum at the local level in hopes that Democrats will begin to claw back some of the seats they’ve lost in the 2026 midterm election. He felt the turnout for the caucus, which was about three times higher than normal for an off year, was a promising sign.

“In hindsight, we should’ve been anticipating it,” he said. “There’s been some other counties that have already had theirs, and they had similar turnouts. So again, (it’s a) great problem to have.”

Drewelow and Rebecca Rutishauser help caucus participants look up their precinct information and interact with them during Saturday’s event at the MACC.

Drewelow invited two speakers to address the crowd: former Rep. Sue Cahill, who was defeated in the 2024 election by Republican David Blom, and Ward 1 Marshalltown City Councilor and Mayor Pro Tem Mike Ladehoff, who formally announced that he will be running for mayor in the upcoming November election as incumbent Joel Greer plans to retire.

During her speech, Cahill urged members of the audience to find strength in numbers, and afterward, she said she was impressed that so many individuals from all sections of the county — not just Marshalltown — were interested in getting involved.

“I was also encouraged by people who were younger than I was, people who were (from) a different background than I have, they were there at the meeting as well, and I think that was just such a positive statement,” she said. “We need to all work together to change the direction that our state and our national government is going.”

Cahill, 65, told the T-R she is unlikely to run for public office again, but she is optimistic the party will find other strong candidates to step up and seek those seats. She pointed out that over 600 unique individuals had donated to her campaign in 2024, while Blom, by contrast, received contributions from less than 200 people — a fact that, she admitted, made the outcome of the election a surprise.

“I think it came down because of the national and state elections that just came down, and people pulled that ‘R’ lever on everything,” she said. “I kind of talk about it as those people who are educated Republicans and those who are just following what they are told to do.”

Ladehoff provided an overview of city happenings and weighed in on how actions the state legislature has taken affect local governing bodies.

“Marshalltown is a very unique and different town than, say, Ames or Fort Dodge or anything like that, what makes us tick, what makes us different, how much industry we have in town compared to how much housing we have in town,” he said. “So every community is unique and different, and if we can’t decide some issues like a library levy or the MACC center levy or things like that ourselves, then we lose that. I’m not interested in being a same old same old community, a typical Midwest town. Marshalltown is unique and special.”

Like Ladehoff, Cahill felt the loss of local control and the impacts of reduced tax levies on cities, counties, school boards and community colleges should be a focal point for Democrats as they make their case to voters, describing it as a “shell game.” During a subsequent interview, Ladehoff, a shop floor worker said the biggest reason he decided to throw his hat in the mayoral race was his steadfast belief in city staff.

“I really enjoy working with them. I think they do a terrific job. I hope people in Marshalltown understand how good of staff we have and employees. They’ve done so much with so little,” Ladehoff said. “We have a really good bunch, and I decided ‘You know what? I think I’ll take a try at this.”

He added that Marshalltown will face “headwinds and hurdles” in the years to come, and, reiterating a comment he made at a recent council meeting, expressed a desire to see the city become a “winner” while continuing to build momentum and utilizing public-private partnerships.

“That’s one thing I think I do well is I work with anyone if it’s for the benefit of Marshalltown,” he said.

Along with those remarks, Drewelow said the focuses of the caucus were filling any vacant central committee positions, recruiting volunteers and reviewing the official party platform while considering any proposed changes.

“Ultimately, power comes from the people, and we want to hear from them,” he said.

While conceding that Democrats face “an uphill battle” at a time when they have taken electoral defeats across the country and President Donald Trump has worked to implement his agenda at a breakneck pace since taking office in January, Drewelow underscored the importance of remaining active in the community and continuing to engage with prospective voters.

“I think it’s really easy for folks to kind of isolate at this point — you know, ‘What’s the point of doing all this?’ or ‘If there’s not going to be this kind of success as a party, what’s the point?’ So I think we kind of have to see where we’re at right now,” he said.

Without addressing specifics, one concern he raised was legislators voting in favor of certain bills after they had indicated an unwillingness to do so during their campaigns, and Drewelow credited lawmakers who continue to hold town halls and public meetings allowing constituents to share their frustrations as national Republican leaders have advised Senators and Representatives to stop doing so.

“That’s a huge concern. I don’t care what side you’re on. That’s atrocious. You can’t hide under the guise of being an elected official and not making yourself available to your constituents,” Drewelow said. “So I think when those opportunities present themselves, being able to go and have those conversations and to, frankly, call people on their bulls*** (is important).”

When asked what issues he felt the Democrats should focus on going forward, Drewelow pointed to the recent passage and signing of Senate File 418, which removes gender identity as a protected class under the Iowa Civil Rights Code.

“I think that’s a huge thing, and regardless of what your beliefs are about members of the LGBTQ+ community, when citizens’ civil rights are being taken away, that should be a concern. When leaders of your party are saying that anybody who is protesting, your funding is going to be taken away. So I think if we can start to find more things like that regardless of party, (we can agree).”

He also opined that some of Trump’s more bombastic and attention-grabbing posts on his Truth Social and X accounts may be distractions from plans to cut entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. And while national political affairs tend to grab the most attention, Drewelow said the county party is keeping its focus on the upcoming 2026 midterms and supporting whoever the gubernatorial candidate ends up being.

All in all, he was encouraged by the gathering on Saturday and hoped the lines out the door before the event started would be a harbinger for things to come.

“I think that speaks a lot to just the guttural feeling that people have right now and the frustration, and they want that energy to go somewhere. And they want to be able to direct that to something that they feel is going to make a difference,” Drewelow said. “And so I think, again, I think that really reflected to the attendance that we had, and not only that, but again, when it comes time to figure out who wants to step forward and take on the responsibility of being a central committee member or even who wants to take a step at the officer (role) on central committee. Typically, it’s a handful of people that come up, but for the first time in a long time, we have an almost filled central committee. And every one of our officer positions has been filled… People are getting more involved, period.”

Despite the current political climate both locally and nationally, Drewelow said it was “an awesome feeling” to witness the turnout and engagement on Saturday and coined the new unofficial party mantra of “Organizing and mobilizing” in laying out his goals for the next few years.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.