Thomas Townsend

Then Charlie McClinic, which was one of the holdout Republicans, he voted no.

And then finally, two Democratic senators, Tom Townsend and Mike Zimmer, they provided the final two yes votes to get it to 28 to 19.

And this sometimes happens when members of the minority party vote.

are willing to support a bill, but they don't want to be the ones to help it get over the top.

But in the House Democratic caucus, I mean, the leader, the minority leader, Brian Meyer, voted for this tax incentive bill.

but then the minority whip sean bagnefsky voted against it the ranking member on the ways and means committee said that he had a lot of concerns about it he wasn't sure but he said with hope he's going to vote for it and we need to audit it every step of the way whereas in the senate i felt like the message was more clear that they thought that this was rushed that this wasn't a good investment for iowans and the two senators who did vote for it Both of them represent Mississippi River districts.

Both of them have strong ties to organized labor, Mike Zimmer and Tom Townsend.

And so I think it was more understandable that they voted for the bill.

I believe that they waited until Republicans have had 26 Republican votes before they put their votes on the board.

That was Mike Zimmer and Tom Townsend, both Eastern Mississippi River Democrats with strong labor ties.

And Townsend, a union guy himself in his career and Zimmer in a tough position.

tough reelection there.

Throughout the special session, Democrats raised concerns over not having enough time to learn about the project and have their questions answered.

During discussion in the Senate Ways and Means Committee on tax policy, Senator Tom Townsend of Dubuque said he was not opposed to economic development but wanted to make sure he was making an informed decision.

I guess my concern is with the speed this is happening, Townsend said.

I'm not against economic development per se, and I really don't want to discard these jobs or anything like that.