John Thompson, Aime Wichtendahl running for Iowa House District 80

A political newcomer and a Hiawatha City Council member are running against each other in the November election to fill an open Iowa House seat representing District 80.

The current representative for the district, Democrat Art Staed, is running instead for the Iowa Senate’s District 40.

Republican John Thompson, president of the nonprofit Salute to the Fallen, and Democrat Aime Wichtendahl, a business care advocate for U.S. Cellular and a Hiawatha City Council member, will face off in the Nov. 5 election for House District 80, which includes Hiawatha, Robins and northeast Cedar Rapids.

Thompson was in the news earlier this year when he spoke at a Cedar Rapids school board meeting after his 5-year-old daughter went missing from Pierce Elementary. She arrived home safely after being picked up by a stranger — before Thompson said the school had called to notify the family she was missing.

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Wichtendahl, who was elected in 2015 to the Hiawatha City Council, is the first transgender elected official in Iowa. If she wins the House District 80 race, she would be the first transgender state lawmaker in Iowa.

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Priorities

Thompson said his three top legislative priorities would be lowering taxes, ensuring students have access to the best education for them and increasing access to mental health care, especially for first responders.

“Everyone deserves access to quality mental health care without discrimination. We need to advocate for mental health awareness, accessibility, education, and eliminate the stigma behind mental health and seeking treatment,” he said, in response to a Gazette candidate survey.

Wichtendahl said her main legislative priorities are building the economy, improving the state’s education system and promoting medical and reproductive freedoms.

“Our state is more concerned with micromanaging personal decisions than making Iowa a great place to live, work and play,” she said in her survey response.

Both seek to improve education

Both candidates want to prioritize education, but they would take different approaches.

Thompson called himself “a proponent of … parental choice in education” and said he supports regulating what’s available in school libraries to make sure it is age-appropriate. He also would like to regulate curriculum standards so they are “accurate, objective and don’t include political or personal biases.”

An Iowa law passed in 2023 bans books with depictions of sex acts from K-12 schools and prohibits the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through sixth grade. The law was blocked in court, but a federal appeals court in August overturned the injunction and allowed the law to take effect.

Wichtendahl disagrees with state regulation of curriculum and materials, stating that “partisan attacks” have been driving teachers away from the Iowa education system.

“While there is some interest in the Legislature establishing guidelines — such as teaching cursive — we should strive to keep partisanship out of our curriculum,” Wichtendahl said.

She said she’d improve education in Iowa by increasing funding for public education to ensure “that our teachers and paraeducators have a living wage.”

Candidates’ approach to abortion

Access to abortion and contraception is one of the main facets of Wichtendahl’s campaign. She wants to change Iowa law and the Iowa Constitution to legalize abortion permanently in the state.

“We must pass laws protecting access to contraception and in vitro fertilization under Iowa law. Enshrining Roe v. Wade and bodily autonomy in the Iowa Constitution ensure this access.”

Currently, most abortions are illegal in Iowa after cardiac activity can be detected in an embryo, sometimes as soon as about six weeks of pregnancy. The law, which includes exceptions for rape, incest and medical abnormalities and emergencies, was allowed to take effect this summer by the Iowa Supreme Court. Previously, abortions were legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Thompson said he wants to support access to in vitro fertilization, as well as adoption, accessible contraceptives and sex education in order to prevent unplanned pregnancies.

He said he might support a bill that would further restrict abortions by defining life as beginning at conception, but only if it has “reasonable exceptions” for things like rape and the health of the mother.

“I would read and analyze legislation and its intended and unintended effects before making any decisions,” Thompson said.

Opponents disagree on hand-held device legislation

The two candidates have differing opinions on the proposed regulation of using handheld device while driving in Iowa. Currently in Iowa, it is illegal to text while driving, but other uses of handheld devices are not restricted.

Thompson said he would support a ban on using handheld devices while driving.

“The dire consequences of texting while driving, including property damage and loss of life, necessitate this measure to safeguard Iowa’s roads and preserve human life,” Thompson said.

Wichtendahl disagreed, saying that the way to improve safety on Iowa roads is to enforce the already existing distracted driver laws.

“I do not see a meaningful distinction between a mobile device and an onboard dash console used in most modern vehicles,” Wichtendahl said.

District voter breakdown

Iowa House District 80 has a total of 23,402 voters, 5,691 of which are inactive. Of the active voters, 6,098 are registered as Democrats and 5,851 are registered as Republicans, according to Oct. 1 data from the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office. There also are 113 active voters registered as Libertarian, 5,614 registered as no party and 35 registered as other party.

Comments: (319) 398-8328; emily.andersen@thegazette.com