Candidate Profiles

I feel one of the biggest challenges the state is facing is the future of our rural public schools. As a school board member, I am concerned with how the new legislation will affect the schools in our district. I have spoken with several lawmakers who have assured me that the funding will be there for our schools. This will be something I will continue to watch closely as the new law rolls out. I am also concerned that our small rural schools will be forced to consolidate into larger rural districts as student populations decline and teacher shortages continue. I will work with area teachers, administrators and other legislators to make sure our children are getting the best education possible and to ensure that our schools are set up for success. We are witnessing a mental health crisis in Iowa. I have spoken with several law enforcement professionals and all have said the same thing: we need to do more in regard to mental health in Iowa. If elected I will work alongside law enforcement and healthcare professionals to come up with solutions to find help for those in need. Iowa needs to fight to be energy independent and diversified. We need to keep our gas and coal power plants and not put all of our eggs in the wind and solar basket. I was quite disappointed when the Duane Arnold Energy Center (Iowa's only nuclear power plant) closed down as well as the Lansing coal plant. Customers are now seeing the previous promises of cheaper power turn into higher electric bills. I will work to ensure we are as energy diverse as possible to keep our rates as low as possible and the lights on whenever you flip the switch.

If I have learned anything in my 41 years on this earth its that the government likes to throw money at their problem and hope and pray it resolves itself. Not everything can be resolved with more money. However, Iowa's bridges have a pretty bad grade overall. I would like to see extra money added to Iowa's infrastructure to ensure our bridges get repaired/replaced to ensure safe travel for everyone. Getting a handle on the mental health crisis here in Iowa will most likely cost money. I will work with mental health professionals to come up with a plan to address this and push to fund it accordingly. Another area where money could be allocated is assisting daycares across the rural parts of the state.

No. If you use a phone while you are driving it distracts you. Distracted driving is already on the books. Leave it to the government to create new laws when current laws that exist would work.

It is not the job of the government to subsidize everything. In a free market, if pay is poor then people will leave and go somewhere else where they feel valued. However, with the amount of money that residents pay to live in a nursing home, staff should be paid appropriately, residents should demand top-notch care, and to be kept safe at all times. Maybe it means nursing homes keep a security officer on staff or have a trained team of staff able to respond in the event of an incident to keep residents safe. If it is determined that elder abuse it happening at specific nursing homes, law enforcement should investigate these allegations accordingly.

Yes. It is important that we find the cause of these cancer rates and try to eliminate them. Once we can pinpoint the root cause(s) we can put a plan together to actually make a difference.

The DNR and EPA already have many regulations on the books to protect our waters. There will always be bad actors and people will have accidents and spills etc. I do not believe that we need stricter regulation but I do know that regulations are necessary. Many of the environmental rules in place today protect our air quality, water quality, rivers and streams etc. I don't know about you but I enjoy breathing clean air and drinking clean water and enjoying clean rivers and streams. It is up to the regulators to enforce the regulations and provide education to members of the public on ways to keep our lakes, rivers, and streams clean.

I am not a mental health expert and I do not have the answer but I know one is needed. I will work with mental health professionals to come up with solutions for the mental health crisis here in our state. As nothing is solved overnight, we will need to monitor the new services implemented to see if there is a net benefit and if so, what level of benefit. As we get the data we can implement changes as needed to keep the program headed in the right direction. It could be as simple as more access to telehealth counselors or it could mean the state bringing back the large mental health institutions.

The state should not be funding abortions or in vitro fertilization. The state should focus on education and access to contraception. The state should also focus on making adoption much more affordable.

While I believe that life begins at conception, I think Iowa got it right with the 6 week abortion ban. Iowa needs to do more to make adoption easier and actually affordable. It can cost between between $30,000 and $40,000 to adopt a baby here in Iowa.

The Iowa legislature should work with parents, teachers, administrators and staff to ensure the best path to educate our children. This includes what is or is not being taught in the classroom.

I think that Iowa is already quite attractive for investment and growth. Low income tax, low corporate tax draw people and businesses to Iowa. Iowa's property taxes are substantially higher than the national average. This is an area we can look to reduce to encourage folks to invest in a home.