Dave Loebsack, Athena Gilbraith to be honored at Iowa Democrats’ Hall of Fame event

Former Iowa Democratic U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack and Scott County activist Athena Gilbraith will be honored by the Iowa Democratic Party at its 2021 Hall of Fame celebration in June.

Loebsack, who retired from Congress at the end of last year after 14 years representing southeast Iowa's 2nd District, will be inducted as the party's 2021 Outstanding Elected Official, according to a news release.

Gilbraith, a Davenport resident, will be recognized as the Outstanding Democratic Party Activist, according to the party.

Gilbraith is secretary of the Iowa Democratic Black Caucus and co-chairwoman of the Davenport NAACP Political Action Committee.

She is the winner of the 2019 “Race Against Racism” award and 2020 recipient of the Jo Ann Zimmerman Activist Award from the state's Democratic Activist Women's Network.

Gilbraith has led the charge locally pushing for equity in policing and to address issues of systemic racism, police brutality and a range of reform issues. She garnered media attention in 2019 for protesting a speech given by a far-right activist at a Bettendorf church that was billed as an “immigration forum” hosted by the Scott County Teenage Republicans.

Gilbraith led the effort to publicly denounce Nick Fuentes, a far-right provocateur and podcaster who founded the America First Political Action Conference and the “Groyper” movement — a loose coalition of mostly young far-right activists.

The Iowa Democratic Party's annual Hall of Fame celebration will premiere online June 13. The event brings together Democratic supporters from all across Iowa.

Attendees can register for the hall of fame celebration here.