Rivals face off again in Iowa House District 66

Republican state Rep. Steven Bradley is facing a challenge this November from the same candidate he ousted four years ago — Andy McKean, a longtime Republican who became a Democrat in a rebuke of then-President Donald Trump.

They are rivals in Iowa House District 66, which includes all of Jones County and most of Jackson County, excluding Maquoketa and the southwestern corner of the county. Early voting began earlier this month and Election Day is Nov. 5.

McKean switched parties in 2019, saying the Republican Party had “veered very sharply to the right.” The next year, he ran as a Democrat for the former District 58 — and was defeated by Bradley. After redistricting, Bradley fended off a GOP primary challenger in 2022 to win District 66.

Steven Bradley

Bradley, 67, a dentist from Cascade, said his main priorities are lowering taxes, improving Iowa’s education system and supporting law enforcement.

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He said in a Gazette candidate questionnaire that he would like to limit the amount that property taxes can be raised each year, and work to keep state income taxes low.

Earlier this year, lawmakers passed a property tax reform bill that seeks to limit tax revenue that local governments can raise by combing levy rates into one rate that is capped and by setting guardrails on the growth of the overall valuation subject to being taxed. But lawmakers did not pass limits on how much an individual’s property valuation could rise year over year.

Bradley also stated that he is happy with legislation that was passed recently surrounding hot button topics like education and abortion.

“Abortion has already been addressed as well as contraception. I’m OK with in vitro fertilization,” Bradley wrote.

This summer, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that an abortion law passed in 2023 could take effect. The law made most abortions illegal in Iowa after cardiac activity can be detected in an embryo, sometimes as soon as six weeks into pregnancy.

Bradley also stated he believes life begins at conception and would support a bill codifying that.

In response to a question about how to improve public education in Iowa and what role the Legislature should have in setting curriculum standards for students, Bradley replied, “we have already passed bills to address this.”

A law passed in 2023 bans books with depictions of sex acts in K-12 schools and prohibits the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through sixth grade.

Andy McKean

McKean, 75, a lawyer from Anamosa, said his priorities would be to prioritize education, improve the quality of life in the state and remove excessive partisanship in the Legislature.

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“Especially in rural Iowa, we need more focus on good jobs, affordable housing and child care, support for recreation and natural resources, improved care for older Iowans, and increased accessibility for mental health services,” he said in response to The Gazette survey. “I'll work hard to bring back the cooperative, common sense approach to resolving controversial issues that can bring people together and move Iowa forward.”

McKean said he would prioritize education by seeking to attract teachers by keeping “the demoralizing culture wars out of the classroom,” and by improving pay for teachers.

Earlier this year, the Legislature increased pay for beginning teachers and set a minimum threshold for experienced teachers. For this academic year, the minimum teacher salary was bumped up to $47,500. Teachers who have been working at least 12 years are to be paid a minimum of $60,000. Those salaries will increase to $50,000 and $62,000, respectively, for the 2025-26 school year.

McKean also said he’d like to increase state funding to public schools to make sure it keeps up with inflation. And he said he’d like to bring more parties to the table to ensure legislation surrounding education is in the best interest of students, parents and teachers.

On the subject of abortion, McKean said he has supported some abortion restrictions later in pregnancy, but always has wanted to see exceptions for rape, incest and the health of the mother.

He said he would hesitate to support a law defining life as beginning “at conception” because “it could be interpreted as a threat to in vitro fertilization and some forms of contraception.”

District voter breakdown

Iowa House District 66 has a total of 23,068 registered voters, 5,633 of which are inactive. Of the active voters, 4,225 are registered as Democrats and 7,564 are registered as Republicans. There are also 71 active voters registered as Libertarian, 5,565 registered as no party and 10 registered as other parties, according to Oct. 1 data from the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office.

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