ABOUT ME

On the first Tuesday of November 1968 during my kindergarten year in Dubuque, our
teacher Miss Heinz lined the class up, and we walked down a long hallway to a mock voting booth. Each one of us elementary students went into the wooden structure, pulled the curtain, and made a check for one of the three presidential candidates. I remember looking at the three photos: Hubert Humphrey, Richard Nixon,

and George Wallace. I thought the first face looked nice,

but the other two scared my five-year-old self. I checked the box under Humphrey.

Later at dinner, my grandpa asked me who I had voted for. Not wanting to upset him
(Grandpa talked about Nixon), I ran into the other room. But thanks to the hard work
and ingenuity of my public school teachers, I learned the importance of voting that day and ever after.

I read books, constantly. That too I learned from my teachers and my family. And one
of my favorite authors is Martha Gellhorn, a WWII correspondent who wrote until her
90s, constantly critiquing war and injustice. People often say, with pride, "I'm not interested in politics".

They might as well say, "I'm not interested in my standard of living,

my health, my job, my rights, my freedoms, my
future, or any future".

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If we mean to keep any control over our world and our lives, we must be interested in politics.

I have utilized "My 24 Words for 2024" as my campaign platform in Senate District #44.
These are not radical ideas. In fact, a majority of Iowans

believe in these issues— a very positive aspect of "common sense".

We want public schools to be fully funded and childcare to be high quality but affordable
for young families. All of us have children in our lives that we care deeply about. And
reading freedom is a recognized element to our education within a democracy.
We want healthcare to be accessible in rural Iowa, and we want women in our lives to
have reproductive freedom. We should not rank 50th in available OBs per Iowa women,

with 33 counties not having any OB.
We do not support the use of eminent domain for a private pipeline that, at best,
will intrude on our land or, at worst, be terribly dangerous. We say NO.
We want to understand the struggles and issues that disabled children and adults face,
recognizing Iowa Senator Tom Harkin's "Americans with Disability Act" in 1990. Where
would we be without this advocacy? We strive for kindness and consideration for the

multiple issues that our LGBTQ+ adolescents and adults face, not a horrific demonizing as "the enemy".
And we know workers must have a strong labor voice with fair, consistent practices,
remembering that this was once District 13 for coal miners of the United Mine Workers
of America. And we know in our rural culture that all guns can be dangerous,
respecting that gun owners should be trained and responsible (perhaps licensed and
insured) so accidents and suicides do not take place.
We know we must move away from industrial agriculture to more variable crops and
animals if we are to preserve Iowa as "The Beautiful Land". This involves a rural equity,
encouraging local businesses within our small towns and welcoming new citizens to our communities.

Iowa is a magical place, but our state's survival requires discipline, trust, patience,
cooperation, kindness, love, and (yes) funding.