Running to be a voice for agriculture

As a sixth-generation farmer, agriculture has been central to who I am for my whole life. I was the past president of the Iowa County Farm Bureau, I’ve served as the chairman of the Ag in the Classroom program in schools and nursing homes, and also served as a 4-H community leader. I am a full-time farmer and have the joy of raising Angus cattle and farming with husband, Joe, and our three children.

Iowa agriculture deserves a voice at the Iowa Capitol, and Iowa farmers deserve someone who is going to fight for them and stand up for them. My life has been dedicated to agriculture, and it is an important industry that needs support and needs someone who will make sure there are more opportunities for agriculture to grow and Iowa farmers to succeed.

I am running for Iowa Senate to be that voice for agriculture, for every day Iowans, and for the hardworking families in our district. In just my first year in the Iowa Senate, we passed election integrity legislation to secure vulnerabilities in Iowa’s elections, we put in more protections for law enforcement officers, and made sure Iowa students have the option to be in the classroom full time, where they learn best. We also passed over a billion dollars in tax relief, eliminated the inheritance tax, and increased funding for important mental health services in Iowa.

This year was just as important. We passed historic income tax reform, passing a flat tax for Iowans, eliminating taxes on retirement income and providing farmers a first-time pension exemption. Not only that, we worked on building up Iowa’s workforce by reforming our unemployment system, reducing regulatory barriers to entering the workforce, improved child care access and affordability, and expanded ethanol use in Iowa to support our state’s hardworking farmers.

I’m proud of the accomplishments we’ve made these last two years, but I know there is more we can do. In the Iowa Senate, I want to keep cutting taxes and eliminating waste from the budget, putting more money back in your pockets. We must also remain vigilant against attacks from attacks by radical extremists. I will continue to be an unrelenting defender of Iowa agricultural and our state’s hardworking farmers so they can continue to feed and fuel the world.

Dawn Driscoll is the Republican candidate in Senate District 46. Democratic candidate Kevin Kinney did not submit a column.