Facing Iowa’s challenges shows strength, Deidre DeJear tells farmers

CEDAR RAPIDS — Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Deidre DeJear questioned the incumbent’s work ethic, calling her actions, especially in addressing the coronavirus pandemic, “punitive” and favoring a “select few” over the needs of everyday Iowans.

“We have a great deal of challenges facing the state right now related to health care, education, rural revitalization, broadband, so many other things,” DeJear said Tuesday.

DeJear, a Des Moines businesswoman seeking the Democratic nomination to face Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds in 2022, told members of the Iowa Farmers Union during a virtual meetup that “facing our challenges as a state is a point of strength.”

“When we look at this current governor, and her disposition and her work ethic,” DeJear said, “when we think about all of those challenges that Iowans are facing, coupled with what she's been doing, what is she doing to address those challenges?”

Plenty, according to the Reynolds campaign.

“Gov. Reynolds has fought to protect Iowans’ freedoms and their ability to make decisions based on what’s best for themselves and their families,” campaign spokesman Pat Garrett said. “Since Gov. Reynolds took office, Iowa has invested like never before in child care, broadband, housing and education.”

That’s happened at the same time the Republican-controlled Legislature cut taxes and the state reported a record budget surplus, he said.

“With the governor at the helm, Iowa is open, Iowans are working and our state’s best days are ahead,” Garrett said.

Speaking about her plans to face the challenges she sees in Iowa, DeJear rejected the idea that her plans are “socialist ideas.”

“It’s not unreasonable for Iowans to want the state to increase broadband speed from 45th in the nation,” DeJear said. “When we're asking not to drive 90 miles to seek hospital care, that's not an unreasonable request. When we're asking for sustainable wages where people can actually afford to pay for child care or they can afford to get a roof over their head where they can afford to feed their family, that is not an unreasonable request.

“No, these are the basic, essential, mechanisms of anybody's pursuit of life, liberty and happiness,” she said.

Democratic voters will choose a nominee for governor in the June 2022 primary election. DeJear and state Rep. Ras Smith of Waterloo are the leading candidates at this time.

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