Farm Advocacy Group Endorses Turek, Bohannon, And Garriott

Posted on July 31, 2026 by Trish Nelson

Iowa farm photo by Trish Nelson


From our inbox:

About Farm Action Fund
Farm Action Fund is a national advocacy organization dedicated to building a fair, competitive, resilient, and healthy agricultural and food system that works for farmers, workers, and communities—not just corporations.

Farm Action Fund Endorses Josh Turek, Christina Bohannan, and Sarah Trone Garriott as Rural Champions to Send to D.C.

Endorsement Recognizes Their Leadership in Fighting for Family Farmers

Mexico, Missouri –Today, Farm Action Fund’s Rural Independence Initiative announced a slate of endorsements in Iowa to send to Congress. Iowa’s economy has been hit hard by the farm crisis and needs a change from the status quo. The Rural Independence Initiative focuses on electing the best federal candidates, regardless of political affiliation, who support local farmers, rural America, and healthy food and challenge corporate monopolies.

Farm Action Fund is endorsing the following:

  • State Rep. Josh Turek for U.S. Senate against Ashley Hinson
  • State Rep. Christina Bohannan against Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks
  • State Senator Sarah Trone Garriott against Rep. Zach Nunn

Farm Action President and fourth generation farmer Joe Maxwell said,

“No other state has been so hurt by this current farm crisis than Iowa. Rural Iowa has continually seen farm bankruptcies, manufacturing jobs leave, vital health care clinics close and school consolidated. It’s clear something has to change. Josh Turek, Christina Bohannan and Sarah Trone Garriott all offer the change that is needed.”

All three of their opponents were an original sponsor and co-sponsors of the controversial Save Our Bacon Act which preempts the ability of states to pass food safety and agriculture production laws. A poll released by Farm Action Fund has shown Iowa voters rejecting it by a nearly 2-1 margin. In the 1st Congressional district, it was opposed by a margin of 46% – 22% and by an even larger margin of 48% – 18% in the 3rd Congressional district.

“It’s clear Iowa voters reject a China-owned pork corporation pushing to override state authority over animal welfare and food safety,” said Maxwell. “By promoting the Save Our Bacon Act, Ashley Hinson, Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn have jeopardized the livelihoods of independent family farmers selling into markets not controlled by Big Pork.”

Josh Turek for U.S. Senate

Maxwell said, “We are excited to give Josh Turek our endorsement for U.S. Senate because he understands that rural Iowa is confronting a “Farmeggedon” crisis. His prairie populism that challenges corporate monopolies squeezing family farmers is exactly what is needed against the current broken status quo. His excellent rural plan confronts corporate monopolies head-on by advocating for right-to-repair, mandatory country of origin labeling and breaking up monopolies so farmers can compete.”

The Iowa poll also found that support for the Save Our Bacon Act could create political challenges for Rep. Ashley Hinson. After voters were informed that Congresswoman Ashley Hinson supports the legislation, has received contributions from China-owned Smithfield, and that the bill could disadvantage Iowa farmers who have already invested in meeting state standards, 64% said the information made them view Hinson less favorably.

Christina Bohannan for Iowa’s 1st Congressional District

Maxwell said, “Christina Bohannan is the right person to represent Iowa’s 1st District. As the granddaughter of family farmers who suffered through the 80s farm crisis, she understands the struggles Iowa farmers are confronting because of corporate consolidation and monopoly power in the seed, fertilizer, meatpacking and other ag industries. Her engineering background also makes her an ideal candidate to finally confront Iowa’s water quality crisis that is harming the health of rural Iowans.”

Sarah Trone Garriott for Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District

“We are pleased to endorse State Senator Garriott for Congress,” said Maxwell. “She started as a rural minister and understands the struggles of rural Iowa when it comes to the farm economy, health care and water quality. She is committed to putting working Iowans first, not corporate interests. Her life has been committed to the service of others and that is exactly what America needs today, politicians who want to serve the people, not corporate interests.”

Farm Action Fund will organize, advocate, and invest in state-by-state efforts to:

  • Fight for people over corporate power
  • Break up corporate monopolies in agriculture and food systems
  • Restore fair competition and transparent markets
  • Support independent farmers, ranchers, and small businesses
  • Rebuild resilient local economies
  • Grow healthy food right here in America

In this short film, Farm Action Fund co-founders Angela Huffman and Joe Maxwell, both farmers, discuss working against monopoly control over agriculture. Huffman and Maxwell draw a straight line from the priorities of their own families and farming communities to Farm Action Fund’s work.

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Swim Safely: Test Before You Swim

Posted on July 30, 2026 by Trish Nelson


Thank you to the Iowa Sierra Club for their hard work protecting people and the environment in Iowa. Follow on Facebook

From the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter – July 17, 2026 – Iowa DNR only tests 38 statewide and 38 city/county beaches. The rest remain ‘swim at your own risk’ unless you test them yourself. Find out how!

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Five Alarm Fire Trump DOJ Files Emergency Appeal

Posted on July 29, 2026 by Trish Nelson

“Trump’s DOJ has filed an emergency appeal asking the Supreme Court to let his mail voting executive order take effect before the midterms — a move that could let the administration decide who gets a mail ballot and who doesn’t, just months before voters head to the polls for the 2026 midterms. Marc Elias, founder of Democracy Docket, breaks down what the executive order actually does, why the DOJ claims the states don’t have standing to challenge it, and why that argument falls apart.

Subscribe to Democracy Docket’s free newsletter or upgrade to support our work.”
https://demdock.com/4fBUQam

 

Subscribe to Democracy Docket

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A System That Will Benefit Everyone

Posted on July 28, 2026 by Trish Nelson

“If you don’t have clean water, what can you count on?” – Chris Jones

I hope you find time to listen to Nathan Sage’s new podcast, Sage Against The Machine. This episode is a conversation with Chris Jones, Democratic candidate for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture.  It is well worth the time. If you can, please donate to the campaign.

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Vote No On Constitutional Amendment In November

Posted on July 27, 2026 by Trish Nelson

From the Summer 2026 edition of The Prairie Progressive, Iowa’s oldest progressive newsletter. The PP is  funded entirely by reader subscription, available in hard copy for $15/yr.  Send check to PP, Box 1945, Iowa City 52244. Click here for archived issues

by Marty Ryan

This year’s November 3rd ballot will offer Iowa voters the choice of accepting or rejecting an Iowa constitutional amendment that is similar to an amendment proposal proffered to
voters over twenty-five years ago.

If the amendment is approved by voters this fall, it will require a supermajority of vote in each chamber of the Iowa Legislature if a bill increases the individual income tax rate
or corporate income tax rate, or the rate of any other type of tax based upon income or legal and special reserves. This poses several questions. Is this necessary? Or is it another attempt by Republicans to control the business of future Iowa legislatures when Democrats are the majority party? What is “legal and special reserves?” Why did those who introduced this not consider sales tax, excise tax, real estate tax, etc.? Sales tax was a consideration in 1999, but legal and special reserves was not. What changed?

This similar scheme came before Iowa voters way back in June of 1999. There were two constitutional amendments to consider in 1999. Amendment 1 would have required the governor and general assembly to approve budgets for general fund expenditures that were no more than 99 percent of estimated revenues.

Amendment 2 would have required a three-fifths supermajority vote of all members of the state legislature to approve a bill that would increase income or sales taxes, or establish a new state tax. Voters rejected the measure with 52.0% voting no. The vote was held in the summer when proponents thought teachers, union members, government workers, and other voters who normally vote with the Democratic Party would be on vacation and miss the election. It didn’t work. The 1999 vote on Amendment 1 was much closer to passing (49.3% to 50.7%), but was defeated, as well.

Besides this year’s amendment reaching for two-thirds of a vote by both chambers rather than the 1999 version of three-fifths, there is also an ominous phrase in the middle of the proposal that requires voters to be knowledgeable of current law regulating credit unions.

Iowa attorney and former Legislative Fiscal Bureau analyst Jon Neiderbach explained that “Iowa has a moneys and credit tax on the legal and special reserves a credit union is required to maintain. The credit union pays this tax to the Iowa Department of Revenue.
There are a number of credits that reduce this tax. Federally-chartered CUs and State chartered CUs that convert to federally chartered CUs do not pay this state tax.” A federally-chartered CU is one that crosses state lines.

Legal reserves are funds required to be set aside as a safety net for an institution, serving as a safeguard against a future unforeseen calamity. Iowa banks are required to maintain
legal reserves as mandated by federal regulations, but there is no specific requirement for special reserves. The management of reserves is primarily governed by the bank’s policies and the applicable laws. Banks are immune from the proposed amendment.

“A special reserve is set aside for a ‘special’ purpose and can be only used for that purpose in the future.” So, when was the last time a tax rate was imposed or increased on a credit union? Currently, Iowa law requires one-half cent on a dollar. And according to Niederbach, “total revenues from this tax are significant (most recently it was $2.8 million in FY 2020).”

Most Iowans belong to a state-chartered credit union. According to the Iowa Credit Unions Online, there are over seventy-two credit unions in Iowa.

Similarly, Iowa does not require community associations to conduct reserve studies or to fund reserves at any particular level. Will this constitutional amendment affect HOAs,
condominiums, or other community boards if a law is enacted to secure special reserves for those entities? Yes!

There are other provisions in the Iowa Constitution that require a two-thirds supermajority. Calling a special session by the legislature requires a two-thirds
vote of each chamber. It requires a two thirds vote of each chamber to override
a governor’s veto. Impeachment requires a supermajority vote of both chambers as well as appropriating extra compensation for local or private purposes, whatever that means.

Section Twelve of Article VII (Corporations) requires a “vote of two thirds of each branch of the general assembly” when amending or repealing “all laws for the organization or creation of corporations, or granting of special or exclusive privileges or immunities.” To
my knowledge, this provision has never been used nor challenged in court.

According to the Iowa Department of Revenue, Iowa’s tax rates have not increased since the 1970s. Contrarily, rates have decreased in 1987, 1996, 1999, 2019, and 2023.

To answer the question of whether this constitutional amendment is necessary, I’m voting “NO!”

—Marty Ryan is a recovering lobbyist.

Posted in Blog for Iowa | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Let’s Take A Break!

Posted on July 26, 2026 by Dave Bradley

Let’s relax for a few minutes and enjoy the joy of this video.

Like many others in Iowa, I am a huge fan of the game, the players and the guy who comes in to celebrate women’s basketball with them.

Stick around to the end to see the interaction with Iowa’s favorite player:

(11 minutes)

Oh – by the way – I hear Jan Jensen is tearing it up on the recruiting trail.

Posted in Blog for Iowa | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Sunday Funday: 100 Days To Election Edition

Posted on July 26, 2026 by Dave Bradley
2 minutes

Thom Hartmann reminds us in his Friday newsletter that we are currently in an oligarchy.  That is rule by the elite, usually the wealthy. He also reminds us the we have been here before, but have so far survived.

Hartmann also notes as we seem to once more be coming to a make or break moment that this has happened approximately every 80 years. This fall’s election will be the single point of the current iteration of choosing which path America will pursue – continued oligarchy or return to democracy.

Hartmann also notes that oligarchy is always a temporary condition leading either to full blown dictatorship or a return to democracy. I will see if I can conjure up a question or two on the subject. Meanwhile – another scary week as the US teeters in oligarchy.

A) What seemingly insane reason did the Trump Administration give for reimposing tariffs across the world?

 

B) Good work if you can get it. By what percentage has Ashley Hinson’s net worth grown since she has been in congress?

 

C) The House Judiciary Committee encouraged the DOJ to look into charging what former special prosecutor claiming he lied to congress?

 

D) In oligarchies of the US’s past, monopolistic practices sanctioned by the British government for what company led to the American Revolution?

 

E)  A man named Daniel Siad died in France last week. Siad had connections with whom that cast suspicions on Siad’s death?

 

F) A Mexican citizen was killed while fleeing what gestapo like US governmental agency while on vacation in the US?

 

G) In Hartmann’s cycle of oligarchy 80 years later following the Revolution would be the 1850s. What practice were oligarch’s involved in that led to a major US conflict?

 

H) What Candidate for Iowa’s Lieutenant Governor was deeply in debt but after he was nominated for the Lt. Gov. job suddenly had access to money to pay his debts?

 

I)  In a proposal that really tests the emoluments clause, Trump is offering for sale early access to what on his Truth Social social media?

 

J) The Transportation Department is moving to rename NYC’s Penn Station transportation hub in honor of whom?

 

K) The FDA claimed that lettuce first thought to be contaminated with the cyclospora parasite was actually a what?

 

L) 80 years following the previous oligarchic ascent in the US, what society changing event took place that led to a reassertion of democracy?

 

M) According to former ICE leader Greg Bovino, how many illegal immigrants are currently living in the US?

 

N) Iowa’s own Chuck Grassley made an impassioned speech on the floor of the senate a couple days ago decrying what awful situation?

 

O) In Texas, AG Ken Paxton is running for the US Senate. Last week it was disclosed that despite making only $153,000 per year he owned how many homes valued at what?

 

P) We are now over 80 years since the last oligarchic uprising, so we are overdue. What can you do to stop the oligarchs this time around?

 

Q) Guess we had a battle last week between two what that went rogue?

 

R) Trump seemed to show signs of dementia as he tried to hijack the celebration by what team that won the World Cup Sunday?

 

S) Trump announced a 50% tariff on products from Canada because of what offense that Canada perpetrated on the US?

 

T) What toxic masculinity influencer brothers were arrested in Miami by British agents in connection to sex trafficking charges?

It was communists when I was a kid. Then it was radical Muslims. Then Mexicans. MS13. Then any immigrant. Now we’re back to communists. 

They have to have a boogeyman to scare the population so we don’t notice the fact that they’re stealing our democracy and robbing us blind. – FascistFacials

tip of the hat to all-hat-no-cattle.com

 

Answers:

 

A) to stop forced labor

 

B) 5 times.

 

C) Jack Smith. Buckle your seat belts, this one could get very interesting

 

D) The East India Company

 

E) Siad was a “Model Scout” for Jeffery Epstein

 

F) ICE

 

G) Slavery in the south

 

H) Derek Wulf – what a lucky guy, huh?

 

J) Donald Trump

 

K) False positive. This change came after the president of Taylor Farms had a meeting (and made a donation?) with the upper echelons of the Trump administration

 

L) the Great Depression – at that time referred to as the great Republican recession

 

M) 107 million – which is 1/3rd of the total US population

 

N) Grassley spoke on Caitlin Clark’s treatment in the WNBA

 

O) 15 homes valued at $9 million – when asked about them in a news conference, Paxton fled the news conference

 

P) Throw the oligarchs out through voting and helping to get the vote out

 

Q) AIs – apparently were doing some kind of test when they went rogue and got in a fight

 

R) Spain

 

S) Having smoke from Canadian wild fires cross the US – Canada border

 

T) Tristan and Andrew Tate – bye, bye boys

WOW. The Trump admin just barred the FBI from investigating cases where DHS officers get into confrontations with immigrants or citizens.

ICE HSI will lead all investigations, yet HSI has no jurisdiction to investigate civil rights violations.

The fox is guarding the henhouse. – Aaron Reichlin-Melnick

tip of the hat to all-hat-no-cattle.com

“Nature doesn’t need us to ‘save’ it. It needs us to stop destroying it. There’s a massive difference.” – earthcurated

Posted in #nevertrump, 2026 election, Humor | Leave a comment

Grassley: Do We Pay Him For Crap Like This?

Posted on July 25, 2026 by Dave Bradley

Thanks to Chuckles Grassley the citizens of Iowa have really serious existential problems. Grassley and his party a little over a year ago passed a bill that literally took food out of the mouths of children and babies by slashing SNAP benefits in order to give the likes of Elon Musk and mark Zuckerberg bigger, bigger tax cuts.

 

In that same bill, Chuckles and his compadres slashed medicaid to the bones. Once again this will devastate poor people in Iowa. Grassley and the Iowa Republican caucus in congress will be simply devastating hundreds of thousands of Iowans without so much as a “sorry.” I have never seen such a group of callous, soulless , unempathetic bunch in my life.

 

Thus the senior member of the US Senate has shown over and over that he cares little if anything about everyday Iowans. For all he cares they can go die – just please do it quietly and away from cameras. But there is something he cares about.

Grassley cares deeply about rough play in the WNBA. Or at least rough play when it happens to Caitkin Clark. And suddenly he wants it to stop – at least against Caitlin Clark.

Caitlin Clark has suddenly found herself to be apparrently some kind of an adopted mrtyr for the extremist right wing Republicans. Following a nasty foul on Clark by a Phoenix Mercury player that was not called at that time observers actually politicized the play. This foul was used as an example of out of control games and it was implied that the black players were attacking white players.

Clark complained as she was right to do, the play was reviewed and a penalty was assessed after the game. Not what is ideal, but it was dealt with.

In this speech in the US Senate Grassley wastes our time and money glorifying Caitlin Clark. I have no doubt some one must have told Grassley this is a really big deal. There is little doubt what Grassley’s mission was to do here – bring out the race wedge without saying certin words.

When this country has citizens starving, people who are priced out of housing, people who are priced out of medical care, an illegal war started by our president blowing through money like there is no tomorrow, incompetence from the county courthouse to the half demolished White House, bribery at all levels of government, income inequality higher than it has ever been and an administration making world wide enemies — a foul on Caitlin Clark is all Grassley can think about? What a waste!!!

Well, Chuck, I hope the country is laughing at you. You really deserve to be laughed at. And then the conversation about you leaving the senate needs to get serious. Trump is showing serious signs of dementia and needs to leave.  After this speech, I believe you should start thinking about it also.

If you are concerned about finding something to do after you leave the senate, you kind of answered your own question. The WNBA needs referees – according to you. Put your name in now. I am sure they will have a spot for you next season. One thing to look out for, though. Girls now play 5 player basketball. No one any longer plays the 6 girl variety. All of the girls can now cross the half court line.

Oh and by the way – if you really want to help women, there is a group of women who are dying to get some help from somebody as important as you. They are called the Epstein Survivors. They were raped and had all sorts of abuse when they were under 18. They would really like some help identifying and arresting and bringing to justice the perpetrators.

There seems to lready be some work done on this. Information has been gathered into something called “the Epstein Files.” These Survivors need a powerful governement politico to get that file out in the public, Chuck. Can you help them?

 

You don’t need to fight Caitlin Clark’s fights. Caitlin Clark can take care of herself. If not her coaches and team hierarchy can help her. But theses Epstein Survivors really need your help. Are you in?

Posted in #nevertrump, Charles Grassley, Republican hypocrisy, Republican mythology, Republican Policy | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Corruption Continues To Rise As An Issue For 2026

Posted on July 25, 2026 by Dave Bradley
11 minutes:

Last week as people wrestled with the idea that eating a fast food taco might drastically sicken them for weeks, they looked for their government for an answer to the very basic questions – what is causing this and how will we stop it? In recent times the US government has been pretty responsive in identifying and then stopping such food born outbreaks.

Through response mechanisms built up in various governmental agencies such as the FDA, the CDC, the Agriculture department and other related agencies constantly gathering and evaluating data were often able to staunch food born outbreaks early and identify the causes and deal with them quickly. While it is not possible to totally prevent such outbreaks, they were very good at limiting damage.

When a contaminated food source was identified it was usually disposed of quickly and fully eliminating the hazard. Companies knew that responding quickly and eliminating any problem was the best for their reputations. When there is a problem the public wants to know that XYZ company will respond with public health in mind.

That is why the response in the recent cyclosporia outbreak was so concerning as the investigation and response broke all the norms. Much as the response to the Covid outbreak of 2020 was fumbled into a massive outbreak with hundreds of thousands dying, the current cyclosporia situation has the makings of being massively fumbled far beyond what it should be.

One of the reasons that Covid was fumbled so badly was that the Trump administration put political considerations above the general welfare. Remember that decisions were made to let Democratic areas such as cities suffer to decrease democratic voter rolls.

This time around, preventative and early warning aparatus were dismantled to free up money to give huge tax breaks to the wealthy. Often some of these tax breaks would return to the MAGA party in the form of “donations.” Thus when the aparatus was needed, it was unavailable.

Also the identifying and tracing operation was far below what it had been, thus delaying the response. And just to add an exclamation point to this whole mess, (for the first time I had ever heard of) declared their testing to have yielded a “false positive.”

Mixed in with all this is what appears to be some “quid pro quo” (this for that) donations from Taylor Farms. Thom Hartmann spells it out in more detail in his Thom Hartmann Report daily substack newsletter:

As I write this, federal investigators are chasing the worst cyclospora outbreak in decades, thousands of people across more than thirty states doubled over with what the CDC delicately calls “frequent and sometimes explosive diarrhea,” and they still can’t tell you for certain which farm it came from.

Over the weekend, after the $7 billion company’s CEO visited the White House, the FDA walked back a positive test on lettuce from Taylor Farms, the largest salad producer in North America, announcing that its own earlier finding of cyclospora had somehow turned out to be a false positive. That leaves thousands of sickened Americans with no confirmed source at all, which is a peculiar place to land in a country that once prided itself on knowing where its dinner came from.

The reason nobody can trace it back isn’t much of a mystery. Back in March of 2025 Trump’s FDA and it’s boss, Bob Kennedy, delayed its new Food Traceability Rule by thirty months, shoving the deadline to track high-risk foods like leafy greens from the field to your plate all the way out to 2028.

Six days after that delay went public, Taylor Fresh Foods, the parent company of Taylor Farms, cut a million dollar check to Trump’s MAGA Inc. super PAC, part of the $2.2 million it has steered to Republican committees this cycle.

Around that same stretch the CDC quietly cut its own foodborne illness surveillance from eight pathogens down to two, and cyclospora was one of the six it stopped watching. The monitoring had always been a hassle for the giant salad makers. And then the big money hit Trump’s bank account, and you’re the one stuck in the bathroom wondering who’s payoff got you.

That’s the whole corrupt Republican machine in a single lettuce field, and what follows is the same story told a couple dozen more times.

So once again we have a Trump regime governing only for their donors and to hell with the rest.

You can almost bet that this time next year we will probably be going through some form of a health crisis that could have been stopped before it became a crisis. I hear that tuberculosis has been identified at an ICE prison in Colorado.

Corruption does have consequences for everyone. Remember that when you vote this fall.

Posted in #nevertrump, 2026 election, Republican Policy | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mark Divitt For Iowa House District 91

Posted on July 24, 2026 by Paul Deaton
Mark Divitt

When Mark Divitt voted in the June 2 Democratic primary he noted there was no candidate on his ballot for the Iowa House of Representatives. That led to his decision to run and Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart called a special nominating convention for House District 91 on July 9. About half of district voters live in Iowa County, and half in Johnson County, so the convention was held virtually. Divitt became the nominee.

On Saturday, July 18, Divitt formally launched his campaign in conjunction with the grand opening of the Iowa County Democrats’ campaign office in Williamsburg. In the meanwhile, he has been preparing for the campaign by meeting party officials and other candidates, creating campaign materials, and raising money. Who is Mark Divitt and what does he stand for? He’s a Democrat.

The candidate provided some biographical information as follows.

Born and raised in Northern California, I attended Sonoma State University and earned a B.S. in Computer Science, graduating cum laude. I started my career at Hewlett-Packard, then went on to work with a number of large companies and small startups as a software engineer and architect. Along the way I held numerous leadership roles, where I learned that listening, attention to detail, and hard work are the real keys to success.

I’m blessed to be the father of two successful children and grandfather to six great kids. I’m married to a wonderful woman originally from Benton County, and we moved back to Iowa to be closer to family and build a simpler, more grounded life.

Recently retired from a long tech career, I haven’t slowed down. I’ve been organizing neighbors, researching the regulatory process, and pushing for transparency in the fight against the proposed Morgan Valley Energy Center, a gas-fired power plant that would affect the air and water our communities depend on. That fight led me to found EcoInference.ai (Many Rivers Iowa LLC), where I’m building energy-efficient, privacy-respecting AI technology that runs right on a device you already own, like your phone or your computer, instead of relying on massive, resource-hungry data centers. If EcoInference.ai ever turns a profit, I’ve committed to donating all of it to local charities.

That fight taught me something: the people of District 91 deserve someone who will actually show up, listen, and do the work — not offer platitudes. I’m not a career politician — I’m a plain citizen, same as you, who wants to help. And I believe that’s exactly what our founders intended: neighbors stepping up to serve their communities for a time, then coming home. Iowa built its legislature as a citizen legislature for that very reason. That’s the spirit I’d bring to it, and that’s why I’m running.

Regarding policy, Divitt will seek diverse opinions in his campaign and if elected to the legislature. “I believe in free speech — not just for people I agree with, but for people I don’t,” he said. “Tolerance only means something if it cuts both ways: if you only defend the speech you like, you’re not defending free speech, you’re defending your own opinions.”

Divitt supports public schools, and recognizes the need to fund Iowa public schools first. Iowa’s school voucher system sends tax dollars from the public school system to private schools, and he would change the program. He sees a short-sighted governor who has information about the failure of vouchers in other states, yet “hasn’t lifted a finger to fix Iowa’s program.” Divitt seeks to remedy that.

He believes small to mid-sized farms are the backbone of Iowa County and rural Johnson County. Divitt would support policies that impact these operations. Farming is a way of life in Iowa, he said, and farm families deserve a better regulatory environment to improve earnings.

His statement about water and air quality is straight forward. “I’ll push for transparency and enforceable standards, informed by direct experience fighting the Morgan Valley Energy Center power plant.”

If the topic of data centers and the energy and water they use is something of a moving target, Divitt has been in the fight for data center accountability. He believes ratepayers and rural communities shouldn’t foot the bill for someone else’s power and water demand.

Regarding mental health, Divitt sees the differences between the two counties he would represent. He views the Johnson County GuideLink Center as something that works, and would like to expand the concept to Iowa County and other parts of rural Iowa.

Mark Divitt supports a woman’s right to choose.

To learn more about Mark Divitt, or get involved in the campaign, check out his website at markdivittforiowa.org.

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