Elinor Levin, Jacob Onken disagree on abortion, vaccines and school funding, but both want to ban traffic cameras

IOWA CITY — A Republican running in one of Iowa’s most Democratic House districts said, if elected, he will listen and try to find common ground, but will vote with his conservative conscience.

Jacob Onken, 32, who works as an attorney for Collins Aerospace in Cedar Rapids, is running against Elinor Levin, a 35-year-old private writing tutor, for Iowa House District 89, which includes part of Iowa City and University Heights. The general election is Nov. 8, but early voting starts Oct. 19.

Levin won the June Democratic primary. Onken was nominated this summer by the Johnson County Republicans after he had filed his candidacy paperwork showing the former district number after a state redistricting process.

Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 4 — 1 in District 89, where, as of Oct. 3, there were 9,911 registered Democrats, 2,005 Republicans and 4,878 no-party voters, according to the Johnson County Auditor.

“Johnson County voted very heavily Democrat for the last several years,” Onken said in a phone interview. “That doesn’t mean there’s no Republicans here. It’s a matter of making it so Republicans can make their voices heard without worrying about negative consequences.”

Both Onken and Levin responded to a Gazette survey on a variety of topics, including abortion, school choice, tax law changes and traffic safety.

Onken said his top priorities include outlawing abortion, allowing public money to go to private schools based on enrollment of Iowa students and prohibiting mandates on vaccines or masking. He doesn’t think any vaccines should be required, whether for COVID-19, influenza or polio.

“Medical decisions like that should be left to the individual,” he said.

Decisions about abortions are different because there’s the life of the unborn to consider, Onken said. “Everyone has the opportunity to make decision about getting pregnant or having children, but I don’t think aborting a child is a medical decision.”

Levin said the decision to have an abortion should be made by the mother in consultation with her doctor. She thinks public money should stay in public schools — and that the state should boost public school budgets by at least 4 percent each year.

But Levin said her main priority in the Iowa House is making Iowa a place where young people want to stay.

“We need to work hard to connect rural Iowa, improve water quality, and encourage entrepreneurship and creativity,” she said in the survey. “We need to protect Iowans’ safety and steward our land and the animals that live on it.”

Levin said in June she planned to knock on doors in District 89 and beyond to talk with urban and rural Iowans about their concerns and hopes for Iowa. She said she heard a lot of people complain about waiting months for medical appointments.

“If we don’t work pretty hard starting now to attract physicians, PAs, (physician assistants), LPNs (licensed practical nurses), RNs (registered nurses) to our system, this problem is going to grow,” she said. “To me, it’s really tied into the other focus of my campaign. Making this a place people want to stay.”

Rather than state tax cuts for everyone, Levin would like to see a progressive tax code that provides more relief to low-income Iowans.

“Those who have more, should contribute more, and we should be considering taxing high levels of wealth as well as earned income to ensure that folks whose finances are primarily in investments rather than employment are contributing their share to Iowa's schools, roads, and future,” she said in the survey.

Levin and Onken agree Iowa should ban the use of traffic cameras, such as speed cameras installed on Interstate 380 through downtown Cedar Rapids.

“When speed cameras are involved, the driver is never confronted by a police officer (witness) who then issues the citation,” Onken said. “Those who receive tickets in the mail do not have the opportunity to cross-examine or subpoena the camera equipment operators or anyone else who handled the evidence.”

Automated traffic cameras have reduced crashes with injuries in Cedar Rapids by 50 percent, Police Chief Wayne Jerman said earlier this year.

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