March 29, 2024

U.S. Senate hopeful Carlin vows to have the backs of ‘regular people’

GREENFIELD — One of the first political hopefuls of the next election cycle visited Greenfield Monday. State Senator Jim Carlin, a Republican from Sioux City, visited Hotel Greenfield to meet with a few local party leaders.

Carlin grew up on the east coast, living in Massachusetts and New Jersey, and then relocated to Iowa. Carlin spent time as a state representative and is currently serving in the Iowa Senate.

Carlin is running for the U.S. Senate spot currently held by Chuck Grassley. Grassley, 87, has served in that spot since 1981 and has not announced whether he will run for the spot again or not.

Carlin told the Free Press in an interview about his desire to run for U.S. Senate.

“I had been thinking about it for about a year. The underlying reason for wanting to take that next step was looking at the process globally and seeing if that process is really serving regular people and is this process going to keep us free in the long run,” Carlin said. “Are my grandchildren going to be free 20 years from now? When I asked myself that question, the answer was no. At that point, I think it requires something of you—a duty or responsibility to act—to get on the field somehow.”

Saying he wasn’t going to run again until Grassley made an announcement that he wasn’t going to run, Carlin explained that a lack of action on doubts some have about the validity of the presidential election led him to run anyway.

While protecting freedoms for today’s generations and beyond is of utmost importance to him, as he travels the area and talks to voters, a few other topics come up as important, including constitutional boundaries in regards to the second amendment, religious freedoms or vaccination status; the threat China is perceived to be to the freedoms of Americans; current issues with immigration; the power big tech holds; the sustainability of social security; and the meat packing industry.

“I would term myself a populist candidate,” Carlin said. “I’m going to do and advocate for what I feel is best for the people of the state and for this country as it relates to personal freedom and dignity of each of us, standing up for it in a meaningful way, having the back of regular people.”

Caleb Nelson

Caleb Nelson

Caleb Nelson has served as News Editor of the Adair County Free Press and Fontanelle Observer since Oct. 2017. He and his wife Kilee live in Greenfield. In Greenfield and the greater Adair County area, he values the opportunity to tell peoples' stories, enjoys playing guitar, following all levels of sports, and being a part of his local church.