The Iowa Democratic Party’s new chairman is promising to “fix” the party’s message and infrastructure after election losses in 2014 and 2016. Troy Price was elected chairman on Saturday. “Our party wants get to work, but we’re only going to be able to get to work if our party is working well,” Price said in a speech to the Iowa Democratic Party’s state central committee. “We’ve lost the trust of the very people we’re trying to help. Our message is fractured and we are focused too much on antiquated ideas and old thoughts and not enough on finding solutions.”

Price, who is 36 years old, replaced Derek Eadon who resigned in late June for health reasons. Price was the Iowa Democratic Party’s executive director for the 2014 election cycle and he’s worked on past campaigns for Hillary Clinton, Tom Vilsack and Chet Culver. “I want to shake up this party and make sure that it is as strong as it possibly can be,” Price told reporters after. “It is clear that our party has had challenges over the last few cycles and I’ve seen them firsthand. I know what they are and so I want to utilize those experiences to make sure that we are doing something different and that are doing things differently heading into 2018.”

Price seemed to channel his inner Trump as he gave a four-minute speech to the Democrats on the party’s state central committee who elected him. “We can get to work winning and that winning’s going to start on August 8th,” Price said, “and we can continue to win all the way through Election Day.” August 8th is the date of the special election in the Fairfield area for a seat in the Iowa House. Price started the new job immediately on Saturday. Price, who thanked his husband for being supportive of his job change, is the first openly gay chairman of either of the state’s political parties.

“The chances that we have seen on LGBTQ rights since I was a high schooler in the late 1990s to where we are today has just been monumental,” Price says. “There’s a lot more work, though, that needs to be done. The Iowa Democratic Party has always stood for that sort of change.” Price beat two other Democrats in the balloting for the chairmanship, though no vote tally was released. Julie Stauch, one of the unsuccessful candidates for the party leadership slot, said the party is “at a crossroads.”

“It is not enough to care, to know people. We need people who can innovate and move us forward,” Staunch said. “…Right now, where the Iowa Democratic Party is today, being cautious is the biggest risk you’ll ever take.” Bob Krause, the other unsuccessful candidate, argued the chair needs to provide “good cover” for the Democrats who are running for office in 2018.

“We need a ‘bad cop’ in the Iowa Democratic Party,” Krause said in his four-minute We need somebody that will attack, attack, attack, attack the Republicans.” Price, the new party chair, is a native of Durant, Iowa. Earlier this month, he left a job working for one of the six Democrats who’s running for governor. Price told reporters he has promised all the candidates that he and the party will be neutral in the primary race.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:30 a.m. CDT

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — The completion of a $60 million project should mean thousands of eastern Iowa residents will no longer need to fear frequent flooding and can enjoy other improvements, including a new trail system and play area. The Telegraph Herald reports that the City of Dubuque recently completed its Upper Bee Branch Creek restoration project. The project includes a nearly 2,000-foot long stormwater channel aims to mitigate flooding.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Officials and merchants in Council Bluffs hope a $5.7 million development in the western Iowa city’s key commercial district may help attract businesses from Omaha, Nebraska. The Omaha World-Herald reports that the Rise residential and commercial building is set to open next spring in Council Bluffs. The nearly 27,000-square-foot project will have 24 apartments, ground-level retail and dining space.

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (AP) — The body of a truck driver who crashed into the Wapsipinicon River near Independence in eastern Iowa has been found. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports the body of Michael Wallace was found in the river over the weekend. The 58-year-old was a resident of Hazelcrest, Illinois. Wallace’s delivery truck was found by kayakers Friday morning. It was mostly submerged with no sign of the driver.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A Mexican official says some Mexican nationals were among the survivors and those who died on a tractor-trailer found at a San Antonio Walmart. Mexican Consul General in San Antonio Reyna Torres says consulate officials are working to identify the survivors and notify family members. Guatemala’s foreign ministry, meanwhile, says at least two Guatemalans were on the abandoned rig. The two survivors told officials they crossed the border by foot at Laredo.

(This is an Iowa State Patrol correction to their earlier Press Release w/regard to the name of the fatality). An accident late Saturday night in central Iowa’s Story County claimed the life of a Des Moines man and injured a woman. The Iowa State Patrol reports 25-year old Richard Lee Boner, of Des Moines, was a passenger in a 2004 Chrysler Sebring driven by 24-year old Katy Sueann Markham, of Des Moines. The vehicle was traveling south on Interstate 35 at around 11:15-p.m., Saturday, when it went out of control about three-miles south of Ames.

The car entered the median and rolled over. Boner, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene. Markham was wearing her seat belt. She was transported to Methodist Hospital in Des Moines by Mercy helicopter.

The accident remains under investigation.