Liz Mathis, Deidre DeJear encourage Coe College students to vote

CEDAR RAPIDS — Democrats running for Iowa governor and a northeast Iowa U.S. House seat spent Wednesday afternoon encouraging Coe College students to vote, talking to students on campus about protecting access to abortion, lowering college tuition costs, tackling inflation and legalizing marijuana in Iowa.

State Sen. Liz Mathis, D-Hiawatha, is running to unseat first-term Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson of Marion in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District.

She was joined Wednesday by Democratic gubernatorial nominee Deidre DeJear, a small-business owner from Des Moines, and Democratic community organizer and Iowa House District 78 candidate Sami Scheetz.

Mathis reiterated that, if elected, she would work to codify abortion rights in federal law established under Roe v. Wade. The landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision was overturned in June by the court.

“I am the women’s candidate,” Mathis said, noting Hinson’s support for a nationwide abortion ban and votes against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act and the Equality Act, a bill to prohibit discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation and gender identity.

“We do not want government officials making the decisions for our health care,” Mathis said. “In one swipe of the pen, the Supreme Court took my 26-year-old daughter’s rights from a first-class citizen to a second-class citizen, and we will not have that in the United States.”

Hinson, in a statement following her vote on the Violence Against Women Act, touted her support for a Republican version of the bill, which she described as a "clean" reauthorization without "partisan additions."

In a separate statement, Hinson argued the Equality Act — which adds sexual orientation and gender identity to federally protected classes — would impinge on religious freedom, and that “there are already existing legal protections for those who have experienced discrimination under federal law.”

Mathis, too, chastised Hinson for voting against the creation of the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, as well as her votes against bills she said will improve the lives of Iowans, decrease the federal deficit, bring down the prices of gas and health care costs, and invest $5 billion over five years for investments in high-speed internet, roads, bridges and other infrastructure priorities that will support corn growers and biofuels industry in the state.

Mathis said she disagrees with President Joe Biden’s student loan debt forgiveness plan and instead is focused on bringing down the cost of college by expanding awareness of college-affordability programs and increasing access to tuition assistance grants and student loan counseling services.

DeJear, asked about marijuana legalization, said Iowans are increasingly flocking across the Mississippi River to obtain legal cannabis at Illinois dispensaries, and that a majority of Iowans, according to polling, approve of legalization, which would increase safety around the substance and keep tax dollars in the state.

Hinson response

Hinson, during a stop in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday alongside Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and other Republican candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot, continued to paint Mathis as a “rubber-stamp” of a “Biden-Pelosi” agenda she blamed for “reckless spending” and for curtailing domestic energy production that has led to high inflation and high gas prices.

Hinson said House Republicans are committed to combating inflation and strengthening the economy. Their plan calls for cutting government spending, ramping up energy production and increasing funding to border enforcement and police officers.

“We want a future that is built on freedom,” she said. “We want to make sure we are protecting our constitutional rights and standing up for parents with a Parents Bill of Rights. We want a nation that is safe. We support our law enforcement here in Iowa, and we also need to support the brave men and women who are helping take care of our borders — to support them and to secure our border.”

Absentee ballots

Districtwide, about 87 percent of requested absentee ballots had been returned as of Tuesday night, with Democrats leading the early vote turnout, according to the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office. Democrats accounted for nearly 54 percent of absentee ballots received, with Republicans accounting for roughly 30 percent and no-party voters roughly 15.5 percent.

More than 38,000 Democrats in Iowa’s 2nd District had returned an absentee ballot as of Tuesday, compared to about 21,500 Republicans and 11,000 no-party voters who cast early ballots.

A total of more than 70,750 absentee ballots, including voters registered with the Libertarian or Green parties, had been received by 2nd District voters as of Tuesday. That compares to roughly 100,000 early votes received at the same point in the last midterm elections in 2018, according to the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office.

Young voters

In Linn County, voters between the ages of 18 and 34 accounted for slightly more than 8 percent of all absentee ballots cast as of Tuesday, according to the Linn County Auditor’s Office. That is down considerably from the 2018 midterm election, when young voters accounted for nearly 16 percent of the early votes.

“It’s a demographic that traditionally doesn’t get listened to by politicians and are still growing in their political awareness … and they are just as important as any other voter in our district, but face a lot of barriers to voting,” Anna Brichacek, Mathis’ campaign manager, said.

Ella Strong, 21, a Coe junior in psychology, said she plans to vote for Mathis, citing her support for women’s reproductive rights and “balancing climate change and farming practices.”

“I felt very limited after Roe v. Wade being overturned and everything, and that a version of my future that could have existed no longer does,” Strong said. “And that’s something that’s been hard to comprehend because all my life I’ve always had a choice. And, now, I maybe don’t. So, for me, that’s the most important … keeping those reproductive rights safe.”

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