Iowa

IA-04 is a prohibitively red district. It was the only district in the state that Trump won with a majority. In fact, he beat Hillary 60.9% to 33.5%. And the incumbent crack pot, neo-Nazi and racist Steve King (he prefers the term "white nationalist") won reelection with over 60% in 2016 and in 2014 and even built a well-known and well-financed Democrat, for Iowa first lady Christie Vilsack, 53-45% in 2012.

On February 1, 2016, the day of the Iowa caucuses, Trump was still just a joke. He was sputtering that Iowa Republicans had brain damage from too much fertilizer after polls started showing him losing to Ben Carson and Ted Cruz. On the day of the caucuses Cruz won-- with 51,666 (27.6%). Trump came in second with 45,429 votes (24.3%), much closer to Rubio's 43,228 (23.1%) than to Cruz.

This week on the New World Next Week: Russia rolls out its Visa/Mastercard alternative; it's Gladio B redux as a German soldier is caught posing as a refugee to stage terror; and the Austrian government wants to tax your tweets.

This week on the New World Next Week: Russia rolls out its Visa/Mastercard alternative; it's Gladio B redux as a German soldier is caught posing as a refugee to stage terror; and the Austrian government wants to tax your tweets.

A church in Davenport, Iowa, facing zoning restrictions related to its outreach program to feed the homeless, is appealing its local council and questioning the legality of the city’s regulations. This all stems from a cease and desist order they received — because feeding the homeless is not allowed when you’re zoned as a church.

A group of American students on a Spring Break cruise broke into a chant of "Build the Wall!" off the coast of Cancun. That's not going over real well in the country they're visiting.

Maybe you got an email filled with outrage over Steve King's latest racist statement this week. The DCCC sent one out, asking for contributions. There's a problem with that though. Steve King isn't just some loud-mouthed crackpot and bigot; he's also an actual congressman from western Iowa. The DCCC doesn't use the contributions they solicit to beat Steve King.

Kim Weaver is the chairman of the O'Brien County Democratic Party in the northwest corner of Iowa, close to where Minnesota, South Dakota and Nebraska abut her state. In 2016 she took on the thankless tasking of running against her notoriously bigoted congressman, Steve King. And she's working towards a re-match for 2018. Trump won the district last November-- 60.9% to 33.5%. In 2012 it was the only Iowa district Obama didn't win.

It's hardly news that Steve King is a hardcore racist and proud bigot. He's spent years building a political brand in rural western Iowa and inside-the-Beltway based on exactly that. Other racist garbage dumps have been automatically drawn to him.

Iowa Senate Minority Leader Bill Dix, R-Shell Rock, center, looks on as Iowa Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal speaks on the floor of the Senate at the Statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP/Charlie Neibergall,)