Independent 2nd Congressional District candidate Dave Bushaw brings message to Waterloo

WATERLOO — Hawkeye resident Dave Bushaw outlined his platform in an independent run for the U.S. House while he listened to the concerns of local voters during a stop last week in Waterloo.

"I'm excited to hear from other folks that come from where I come from," said Bushaw, clad in black combat boots, black jeans and a black sweater under a black denim blazer topped with a red bandanna peeking out from his shoulder-length hair.

Bushaw, 31, is running for northeast Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, currently held by Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is seeking Joni Ernst's U.S. Senate spot. Ernst, a Republican, has opted not to run for re-election.

Democrats seeking the seat include state Rep. Lindsay James of Dubuque, retired Army nurse Kathy Dolter of Asbury, hotel manager Guy Morgan of Boone and Cedar Rapids nonprofit cofounder Clint Twedt-Ball. Republicans running include state Sen. Charlie McClintock of Alburnett and former state lawmaker Joe Mitchell of Clear Lake.

The sparse crowd Friday night at the Black Hawk Labor Temple – attendance apparently was siphoned off by a legislative forum in town the same night – told Bushaw that health care affordability, rural health care availability and inflation are among top concerns heading into the midterm elections in November.

"The idea of the American dream – if you work hard, you go to school, you can achieve a reasonable amount of success and comfort in your life – somewhere along the way, the path to that American dream was hijacked by the super rich," said Rachel Fredericksen, a supporter from Cedar Falls. "That didn't happen overnight, and that didn't happen because of one party."

Also attending the event was Cedar Falls City Council member Kelly Dunn, who recently learned about Bushaw. She said she likes his stance on health care and universal child care.

"I'm not against the folks who chose to put themselves out and run for a particular party. I'm wholly supportive of the bravery and their commitment to being a good citizen. It's the party establishment that I have the biggest problem with," said Dunn, a nurse.

Bushaw – who bills himself as a working-class, pro-labor candidate – said he backs universal health care under a Medicare-for-all platform.

Bushaw said he's pro-2nd Amendment when it comes to firearms, but he would like to see mandatory hunter safety training in public schools and colleges and compulsory military and civil service, like in Sweden.

On immigration, Bushaw said he is for an easier route to citizenship.

"We need to expand our naturalization programs. We need to create jobs going into these immigrant-dense communities. ... Let's go in there, not with a stick, but with a carrot," Bushaw said. "You're working here, you're staying here. Let's offer you a path to citizenship."

If elected, he said he would back an audit to account for the use of COVID-19 recovery funds doled out to government agencies.

Raised in West Union, Bushaw said he came from an apolitical family. His mother didn't vote until she was in her 40s and his father didn't vote at all, he said.

"We never talked about politics. It was just what was on the TV."

Though not from a farm family, Bushaw became a young first-generation farmer at age 19, buying a 4-acre plot from an older farmer who was looking to get out of the business. He set up a small squash operation, growing 7,500 squash by hand, although the farm has been on pause since the pandemic struck.

Bushaw also worked at the Agri Star meatpacking plant – the successor of Agri Processors – alongside the families who had been caught up in the Postville immigration raids in 2008.

His first real exposure to politics came through his involvement in the punk rock music scene, and heading down that path brought him to the folk protest songs of Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and the like. He attended his first protest in 2011 in Cedar Rapids and later joined as a roving delegate with Industrial Workers of the World labor movement, performing on picket lines and organizing unions.

In 2019, Bushaw was a rural organizer for Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign, working Iowa, Nevada's northern deserts and South Carolina.

Bushaw said he became disillusioned with America's two-party system during last year's government shutdown.

"I had it. You had both sides saying 'we're fighting for you,' when in reality one side threatened to cut Obamacare, and the other side decided to hold SNAP benefits over people," Bushaw said. "They took the poorest of the poor that didn't have food and needed SNAP benefits and probably also didn't have Obamacare, and they punished them."

Bushaw said the 2nd District has the highest density of independent voters in Iowa, including 13 national "pivot" counties that swung from being hard core Barack Obama to hard core Donald Trump supporters.

"The numbers are there. I think prairie populism still exists here in Northeast Iowa," he said.