Loebsack: Battling for a bright Iowa future

As your representative, my most important priority is listening to the people of Iowa in order to best be their voice in Washington. Whether it is during a visit to a farm, riding along with law enforcement, hosting workshops for veterans to receive the assistance they need, visiting a local manufacturing company or having a cup of coffee at a diner, I am always willing to listen and then act on what Iowans are telling me.

When Congress is not in session, I am in Iowa, traveling around meeting face-to-face with Iowans. In the past two years, I have been privileged to attend or host more than 675 events in folks' homes, businesses or wherever they want to meet. For our democracy to truly work, we have to hear directly from the people we were chosen to serve.

As I am out and about meeting with folks, one of the first things I am usually asked is why I want to run for re-election and why would I ever want to go back to Washington. The first thing I tell them is that I want to keep fighting for people like me, who understand what it means to struggle. Having grown up in poverty, I took advantage of supports that the community provided and pulled myself up by my bootstraps to make something of myself.

I share Iowans' very real concerns not just about what the future holds for our children and grandchildren, but about what the day-to-day holds for hardworking families. It's why I am doing everything I can to help create jobs and grow all aspects of the economy - from manufacturing companies by cracking down on unfair trade, to small businesses in rural Iowa by providing skills training.

I also will fight to protect Social Security and Medicare so seniors and those close to retirement have a safety net available so they can retire without having to choose between putting food on the table and buying their prescriptions.

I am proud to be your representative and I work hard every day to ensure that the future looks bright for all Iowans. I hope to continue to serve as your voice in Washington, and I humbly ask for your vote on or before Nov. 6.

' Dave Loebsack is the Democratic candidate in Iowa's 2nd Congressional District.

All candidate guest columns in Iowa's 2nd District race:

' Daniel Clark

' Dave Loebsack

' Christopher Peters

' Mark Strauss

Dave Loebsack declined our invitation for an endorsement interview. Therefore, no video is available.