‘Restoring the foundations of freedom’

Educating the public, protecting Iowans’ constitutional and inalienable rights and keeping politics local are some of the main tenants of Brad Sherman’s campaign as he runs for Iowa governor.

Sherman shared these values with Iowans Thursday evening during a meet-and-greet event he held at Boyt Harness Company in Osceola.

Originally from Missouri, Sherman has spent a majority of his life in Iowa City, where he’s served as a Christian pastor the past 45 years. It was here Sherman said he found the motivation to enter politics.

“We moved [to the Iowa City area] to start a church and we saw a lot of left-wing, Marxist-type indoctrination taking place at the university campuses,” Sherman said. “If we don’t know how government is supposed to work, we won’t know when it’s not working, and that’s when our freedoms can be taken away. I’m very concerned about the foundational principles that seem to be missing in our education systems. That’s a big issue for me, getting these foundational principles back into our schools, into our public consciousness, so that we can preserve our freedoms.”

With a campaign slogan of, “Restoring the foundations of freedom,” Sherman said he’s been working on this mission for a while now.

“I‘ve been traveling around this state and other states for years doing seminars on the founding principles of our nation and some constitutional principles and what the founders believed, that sort of thing,” Sherman said. “I find whenever people hear these things, they absolutely lock in on it. It resonates with them.”

Sherman’s first official foray into politics begin in 2022 when he ran for the Iowa House of Representatives District 91, which is composed of Iowa County and part of Johnson County. Sherman won, serving as an Iowa Representative from 2023 to 2025.

It was during this term Sherman decided he would run for Iowa governor. In November 2024, before Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds announced she would not be running for another term, Sherman called Reynolds to let her know his intent.

“I respect Kim Reynolds. I do disagree with a few of her positions, but I primarily ran because I felt like it was something God made it very clear to us to do through prayer and I wanted to tell her about it. That’s why I called her,” Sherman said. “Everybody else in this race got in after she got out and so they saw an open seat; they saw an opportunity.”

Though Sherman had a brief stint in the Iowa legislature, he was proud to be running what he called a grassroots movement, something keeping in line with Iowa as a state.

“Iowa is a grassroots state,” Sherman said. “We have this caucus system here in Iowa that we keep doing, and I think it’s important to keep it going because there’s a reason why our constitution starts with ‘We the people.’”

Many of Sherman’s opinions on hot-topic issues are similar to his Republican opponents: Sherman is pro-life, against excessive taxation and big government, opposed to eminent domain, in favor of medical freedom, a supporter of the Second Amendment and in favor of bringing Christianity to the forefront.

However, Sherman said that what sets him apart from his opponents is his wealth of experience.

“I’ve done everything from heavy equipment operation, I’ve worked on the Mississippi River on a tow boat, I’ve been a pastor for 45 years working with people and from every walk of life, that’s really a good broad range of experience in itself, knowing where people live and the issues that they deal with every day,” Sherman said. “And then also I’ve been a home builder in real estate; I’ve helped start pro- life organizations and was a board chair and president of those nonprofits for 10 years. That sets me apart.”

Sherman also served as a national delegate for the Republican National Convention in 2024.

Five are competing for the Republican bid of governor. In addition to Sherman, candidates include Eddie Andrews, Zach Lahn, Adam Steen and Randy Feenstra.

The primary election will be Tuesday, June 2. Iowans can vote absentee in person at their county auditor’s office now until election day.