About

I dig deep for the facts.

Since 2007, I’ve been bringing readers stories they can’t find in other Iowa media outlets, or different angles on the biggest Iowa politics news of the day.

I’m proud that my work has been recognized: Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Michael Gartner has called me “probably the hardest-working — and perhaps the best — political reporter in the state” and “one of the best investigative reporters in the state.” The Fix at the Washington Post included me on its list of Iowa’s outstanding political reporters in 2020 and named my website Bleeding Heartland among the “best state-based political blogs.” Politico put me on its list of “early state must-follows,” and Charles Pierce of Esquire has called Bleeding Heartland an “essential Iowa political blog.” Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo wrote in 2025, “On Iowa I strongly recommend Laura Belin for a smart, skeptical look at the state’s politics.” Longtime Democratic campaign strategist Joe Trippi has called me his “go-to person on all things Iowa politics.”

I’ve also been the part-time political reporter for KHOI Community Radio in Ames since early 2021. I co-host “KHOI’s Capitol Week,” a 30-minute radio show about Iowa politics that is available through all podcast platforms and on Substack.

My work has been cited in many Iowa and national media outlets—and a few international ones.

I found my love of politics growing up with parents and siblings who discussed current events at the dinner table. I’ve followed Iowa elections closely since the 1980 caucuses, when I took on the role of liberal Republican candidate John Anderson for a classroom debate. I participated in my first Iowa Democratic caucus as a Paul Simon supporter in 1988.

I found my love of writing about politics as an analyst for the Prague-based Open Media Research Institute and later for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. I covered Russian campaigns and elections, parliamentary politics, and media issues full time from 1995 to 1998 and on a freelance basis for RFE/RL from 1999 to 2005, spanning most of Boris Yeltsin’s presidency and the early Vladimir Putin years.

By the mid-2000s, my favorite beats in Russia had become boring and depressing. So I turned my focus to Iowa happenings and started writing at Bleeding Heartland in 2007, first using the handle desmoinesdem and covering Iowa politics under my own byline since 2019.

Readers or tipsters are welcome to contact me by phone (515-276-6971), e-mail (info@bleedingheartland.com), or social media platform (Bluesky, Substack, X/Twitter, Facebook).