Loew, Varley speak at candidate forum

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a two-part series covering this event. The second story, published in a future Adair County Free Press, will focus on Third Congressional District hopefuls Melissa Vine and Lanon Baccam. Republican incumbent Zach Nunn will also likely be featured in a future edition.

Nicole Loew and Karen Varley were the two state level legislative hopefuls in front of a full-room audience at The Wallace Farm Saturday, March 2, for a candidate forum co-hosted by the Adair, Madison and Union County Democrats.

Loew, from Chariton, is running for Senate District 12, served by Republican Amy Sinclair of Allerton. Varley, from Stuart, is running for House District 23, served by Republican Ray “Bubba” Sorensen of Greenfield.

Federal level candidates on hand were Melissa Vine of West Des Moines, running for the Third Congressional District, currently served by Bondurant Republican Zach Nunn, and Lanon Baccam of Mount Pleasant, running for the same seat in the June primary election.

Varley introduced herself, saying that after attending graduate school in the northeast, she and her husband, Warren, returned to Iowa in 1989. It was here they raised four children, partly because of a strong public education system Iowa had.

“We appreciated the opportunities we had and wanted our kids to have those same opportunities,” she said. “Today, we want those opportunities for all children in Iowa. Sadly it’s not the case, because our current leadership, for years, has consistently underfunded public education. Last year, they took the additional step of channeling millions of public dollars to private schools.”

Loew explained she is running for Iowa Senate because of the same reasons she got her nursing degree and later obtained her PhD.

“I love rural women. I was lucky enough to come from a long line of rural women. I think their work ethic and their resourcefulness are incredible and inspiring, but I also learned, early on, that their work ethic and resourcefulness came from a place of scarcity and simply just because they had to,” Loew said. “Because I recognized this, I felt compelled to see what I could do to help rural women. Rural women are not only the building blocks of our families and our communities, they’re drivers of health for their immediate and extended families.”

In answering a question regarding the importance of balancing the economic needs of farmers with the ecological and environmental needs of the planet, Varley drew upon her agronomy background and her role on the Iowa Farmers Union board.

Varley stated that the same steps and practices that can reduce negative impacts of agriculture on the environment can also lead to greater profitability for farmers, one example being the adoption of cover crops. She said there are other opportunities livestock producers can take to achieve similar outcomes.

Loew added a comment that every decision the legislature makes impacts health in some way. She spoke about various factors leading to rising cancer rates in Iowa, how alarming that is to her and how the agricultural world could be leading to these because of things such as pesticides.

“We also have to recognize that we sometimes think things are mutually exclusive and we can’t have ‘and.’ An example is that if you’re for big ag you can’t be for clean water. That’s simply not the case,” Loew said. “You can support agriculture and clean water at the same time.”

Each candidate touched on protecting a woman’s right to choose in healthcare decision-making. Loew said women should be trusted to make their own decisions. She described the patient-provider relationship as “sacred” and said it is important women have resources and knowledge made available to them so they can make those decisions.

Varley said the state legislature should not be making pressure-filled decisions for someone else.

Another topic discussed was Area Education Agencies, and a large portion of the conversation revolved around local schools being able to make decisions for themselves.

Similarly, Varley said that one of the ways she sees Republican lawmakers waging war on rural Iowa is through what she sees as a power grab where they’re consolidating, away from the local level, several areas of government.

Loew said she finds current policy alarming because of the way it has trickled down into rural areas, leading to schools closing and healthcare resources that are close to home going by the wayside.