Iowa Democrats pick ex-House candidate as new state leader

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Democrats chose a failed Congressional candidate to lead their state party as they grapple with a series of election losses and an effort from the national party to take away its first-in-the-nation status in the presidential race. Rita Hart, the former state senator who lost a 2020 U.S. House race by just a handful of votes, was chosen Saturday over two other candidates. Hart said her focus is on helping Democrats start winning elections again. But she’ll also have to help the state party decide how to respond to the national Democratic Party’s decision to put the South Carolina primary ahead of Iowa’s caucuses on the presidential election calendar.