Democrats in Cedar Rapids: Make last month until election count

CEDAR RAPIDS — Candidates, elected officials and local leaders encouraged Iowa Democrats on Saturday to be proactive in their support for the party in the 30 days leading to the Nov. 8 election.

“We have a lot of races we want to win in the state this year,” State Auditor Rob Sand said Saturday at the eighth annual Progress Iowa Corn Feed, held at the NewBo City Market, to a crowd of about 60.

“We have to do that work now. … If we let up, if we relax, we will never know if one of these races ends up being decided by six votes,” said Sand, referring to the U.S. House race that Democratic former state Sen. Rita Hart lost to Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks by six votes in 2020. “We will never know if it would have been one more shift of door knocking that made the difference; one more afternoon of sitting down and writing postcards.”

Democratic state Sen. Liz Mathis told the crowd her opponent “tells us one thing here and goes to Washington and votes another way … we can change that.”

Mathis is running for Iowa's 2nd Congressional District, which includes 22 northeastern counties, against incumbent Republican Ashley Hinson. Democrats are leading Republicans in voter registration in the district as of Oct. 1, according to Mathis, “but it’s a narrow margin.”

Democratic lieutenant governor nominee Eric Van Lancker, who was born and raised in southwest Cedar Rapids, said Iowa’s public school system was No. 1 in the nation when he graduated from Prairie High School.

“We’ve gone from No. 1 to middle of the pack,” he said. “There’s one sign of that stopping when we elect Deidre DeJear the next governor of the state of Iowa.”

DeJear’s education plan includes an immediate influx of funding in to Iowa’s public school systems, Van Lancker said. “DeJear will not accept a budget that does not have at least 4 percent state aid growth,” he said.

DeJear’s plan calls for student loan forgiveness for teachers who have been teaching in Iowa public schools for five years, investing in early childhood education, putting a mental health professional in every public school building and teaching the trades in Iowa high schools, Van Lancker said.

Kayleen Reeve, of Iowa City, said she keeps hearing DeJear doesn’t have a chance of unseating Republican incumbent Kim Reynolds. She responds by telling people to “stop saying that,” she said.

“We have to get Reynolds out of office,” Reeve said. “She’s ruining our public schools.”

Reynolds is forcing teachers to leave the profession by underfunding education and encouraging the challenging of books some consider too graphic in schools instead of supporting “a freedom of expression,” Reeve said.

Reeve is frustrated with Reynolds joining a federal lawsuit to challenge President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors. She also is frustrated with Reynolds’ allocating millions in federal pandemic relief under Biden’s American Rescue Plan funding to support production of a limited TV series adaptation of the film “Field of Dreams” to encourage tourism.

Instead, what would bring increased tourism revenue to the state would be improving Iowa’s water quality so it is safer for recreational activities, Reeve said. Public officials warn year after year against swimming at many of Iowa’s public beaches due to poor water quality.

John Norwood, the Democratic candidate for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, who spoke at the Corn Feed, said "our rotten water quality here“ is one example of why Iowans need to care about the state position he’s running for.

His platform — Iowa Built to Last — advocates making the state, which already is one of “the most important growing regions,” the food capital of the world, Norwood said.

Iowa needs to build resiliency for climate change and intensifying weather and find ways to make agriculture a more accessible profession, Norwood said.

“If we just grow corn and beans, we’re not going to have healthy soils, people or communities, and you see that reflected in the population decline,” Norwood said.

Jim Williams, of Cedar Rapids, is “betting” Mike Franken will win by 10 points. Franken, a retired Navy admiral, is running against Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley.

A lifelong Democrat, Williams said that if Franken wins, the party will be “resurrected in Iowa” where it currently “has no leadership.” Williams said he had supported Grassley for years, “but in the last 10 years, he’s done nothing for Iowa.”

Christine Lehman-Engledown, of Swisher, said the outcome of the upcoming election is “really hard to read.” Lehman-Engledown, who said she also supported Grassley in the past, said he “looked weak” in a debate against Franken last week.

Lehman-Engledown also said she is in support of DeJear, who would be a governor that “supports public schools and women’s right to choose.“

“I’m hearing bad things, but I want to believe people will come to their senses, especially with abortion being on the ballot,” Lehman-Engledown said.

Other speakers at the Corn Feed, which was free to attend, were Linn County Auditor Joel Miller, the Democratic candidate for Iowa Secretary of State; Iowa House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst; Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa Chair Dana Larson; abortion rights group NARAL Iowa Director Kate Revaux and Organizer and Reproductive Rights Advocate Mica Doolan.

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