The Issues

CAMPAIGNING ON WHAT UNITES US

I have lived in this district for 46 years. I know what it’s like to raise a family, build a business, and pay the bills in District 2. I'm ready to bring the voices of everyday Iowans to Washington by standing up for our reproductive freedom, fighting to strengthen social security, working to ensure everyone in Northeast Iowa has affordable health care, and investing in public education for all of our children.

In fact, we’ve already started to shake up Washington: On day one of our campaign, Ashley Hinson finally agreed to co-sponsor the Metastatic Breast Cancer Access after rejecting my earlier lobbying efforts for years.

Our campaign is simple: we’re going everywhere in this district and talking to everyone to hear their stories and talk about the issues that matter to them. Our shared Iowa values are what I want to bring to Washington when I am elected to represent you in Congress.

Our Care

I have seen firsthand how our broken health care system has failed everyday Iowans. As a two time breast cancer survivor, I know that life saving cures and treatments only help people if they can afford it and access it. Iowans need more investments in mental health care, support for our caregivers, and expanded services for our aging population.

When I am elected to Congress, I will:

Vote to strengthen Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid for Iowans;
Fight like hell to defend and extend the Affordable Care Act and protections for pre-existing conditions;
Protect seniors against Republican attacks on the $2,000 out of pocket cap on prescription drug costs;
Expand the $35 a month cap on insulin for the more than 260,000 Iowans who rely on it;
Invest in mental health treatment so that people can get care before it becomes an emergency;
Ensure Iowans with cancer have the same chance to fight that I did with legislation like the Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act.

On Reproductive Freedom

All reproductive health decisions should be between a woman and her doctors and/or spiritual advisor. Period.

I trust Iowans to make the best medical decisions for themselves. Unfortunately, people like Ashley Hinson and Kim Reynolds don’t. The state just passed one of the most dangerous abortion bans in the country and Ashley Hinson supports a nationwide abortion ban with no exceptions for rape, incest, or health of the mother. In Congress, I will spend every day fighting for reproductive justice, abortion rights, and to ensure every family in Iowa has access to reproductive care that suits their family’s needs.

On day one in Congress I will:

Support the Women’s Health Protection Act, the gold standard piece of legislation to protect women’s reproductive care and abortion rights nationwide;
Stand against every single attempt Republicans make to ban abortion nationwide;
Ensure every family in Iowa can afford to access IVF, contraception, and other family planning services.

Our Kids

Like every mom, I know that we all just want the best for our children and to give them a chance to have a better life than we did. Unfortunately, that is becoming more and more difficult because of politicians like Kim Reynolds and Ashley Hinson funneling resources to their wealthy friends, leaving working families in the dust.

Every child in Iowa deserves a world-class education. The best way to provide that is by ensuring our public schools are places that our kids are excited to come to every morning and sending them out into the world ready to go to college or compete in the job market Private schools in Iowa — 94% of which are religious-based — can turn away my son and other kids with disabilities and that not only takes opportunities from disabled students, but all of our students who want to become empathetic, thoughtful members of our community. We need public money in public schools, alongside affordable pre-K and investments in our trade schools, community colleges, and state universities.

The unfortunate reality is that no matter where our kids go to school, when we put them on the school bus, we have to consider the possibility that they might not come back. The leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 18 is gun violence. Incidents of gun fire on school grounds are skyrocketing. We all know we have a serious problem. That requires serious solutions from serious leaders, not politicians like Ashley Hinson spewing gun lobby talking points. After the Perry High School shooting in Iowa, Ashley Hinson had the gall to say there is no way to, ‘legislate away this kind of hate.’

When I am elected to Congress, I won’t just throw one hand up in defeat and take gun lobbyist campaign money with the other. I’ll fight to keep our children safe and keep guns out of dangerous hands. That means:

1. Requiring a background check on all firearms purchases;

2. Holding adults accountable when their children get a hold of unsecured firearms;

3. Increasing the number of trained mental health counselors in public schools.

Our Communities

Iowa has long been a leader on the national stage - for public education, agricultural innovation, and renewable energy, but we all know it’s getting harder and harder to thrive here: the majority of our counties have seen a declining population nearly every year for the last century. Corporate consolidation has made it more difficult for working Iowans to get by.

With antitrust legislation, smart investments in small business development, rural utility improvements, and other infrastructure advancements, affordable college, and a higher minimum wage, we can create better opportunities for all Iowans. These are all issues that Democrats have been working on over the last four years, with historic investments in communities like ours through the Inflation Reduction Act and the American Rescue Plan.

I also know that investing in our communities means protecting our farm economy. Our state’s 85,000 farmers help feed our families and the world. There is so much to be proud of when we think about Iowa’s agricultural economy and we should be doing everything we can to keep leading the world in producing things like soybeans, eggs, beef, pork, and corn.

We need continued investment in our commodity growers while also meeting the needs of the ever-expanding coalition of young and diversified farming operations that produce fresh produce, specialty crops, and dairy products for our communities. Our agriculture system needs to work for farmers of all sizes. Real investments in our agriculture industry won’t just boost the local economy, and create jobs, but they will help protect our food supply and, as we saw during the pandemic, food and supply chain security is national security. When I am elected, I’ll push to join the House Agriculture Committee to help strengthen our farm safety net and keep Iowa on the cutting edge of agriculture.

Our Democracy

It’s no secret that Americans are losing faith in our institutions and who can blame them? For generations they’ve watched career politicians vote in favor of their party bosses and rig the rules in favor of their wealthy donors. I am running for office because I don’t think that’s the way it has to be. I’ll stand up to those trying to dismantle our democracy and fight for common sense steps to start earning back the trust of Iowans.

That means:

Voting to ban members of Congress from trading stocks while they’re in office;
Restoring the Voting Rights Act to ensure our elections can’t be bought and sold by millionaires and billionaires;
Creating fair districts so voters are choosing their elected officials, not the other way around;
Protect our election systems from foreign financial influence and put the ballot squarely in the hands of Americans to choose their representatives.
STOP PROJECT 2025 from becoming our reality