Take another look at the long-term candidate for Congress in Iowa

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I had the opportunity to interview Sarah Corkery in September and found her refreshing, entertaining, engaging and driven. There is something authentic about a candidate entering a race without the “advantage” of highly paid consultants in so-called targeted races and challenging an incumbent based on his or her own experience and passion for issues.

This is Corkery. And I titled the podcast column: Run like no one is watching.

Yesterday I asked Tim Wagner to write an essay about Corkery's race from his perspective as an avid Decorah fan. Here it is:

I have never accepted what many have said. It started when a good friend of mine said last spring, “I love that Sarah Corkery is committed to running. But she has one hell of a chance of winning. ”

I simply replied, “If I believed that, I wouldn’t spend much time volunteering for their campaign.” Also, please keep these thoughts to yourself. The last thing we need is someone making such predictions. ”

He agreed.

Yes, anyone with experience in political campaigns will tell you that having a Democrat running against a two-term incumbent Republican with a multimillion-dollar war chest in a decidedly red state like Iowa is definitely an unlikely proposition. But here we are two days before the election and I'm very optimistic. For numerous reasons.

• Sarah is sincere, cheerful and very personable! She has an honest story about deciding to run against Hinson after she (a two-time breast cancer survivor) flew to Washington to advocate for passage of the Metastatic Breast Cancer Act, which would make it easier to fund Medicare and Medicaid funding for breast cancer would make accessible to cancer survivors. Hinson told her no. Sarah decided the next day that she was going to run. Following her announcement, Hinson co-signed the bill.

• Breast cancer, health care and women's reproductive rights should not be partisan issues. Sarah will tell you this right from the start. But Hinson and her Republican colleagues have taken extreme measures to make them partisan issues, all with past, present and future election cycles in mind. As Sarah Hinson publicly accused during her televised debate on October 14, she is “playing politics with women’s lives.” “Many voters in Iowa, especially women voters, feel great contempt for such nonsense.

• When it comes to reproductive rights, Sarah openly states that this is her biggest issue. As a survivor of a near-fatal birth, she is determined to take such personal decisions away from the government and put them back in the hands of a woman and her doctor. And the majority of Iowa women, young and old, agreed. The same goes for the majority of voters in Iowa, as polls consistently show.

• Hinson has a reputation for lying to her voters. Examples abound, far more than can be shown here. But one stands out after the national press reported that she tried to take credit for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which funded major upgrades to Iowa's locks and dams system on the Mississippi River. As news organizations reported, this came after she voted “no” on the bill. She still constantly rails against the Biden administration for its “out-of-control spending” while bragging about bringing dollars back to her district.

Not to mention, nearly $1.7 billion has flowed into Hinson's district from the various bills passed by Biden, funding over 1,200 local and regional projects in transportation, healthcare, education, broadband, child care, the environment, and more that will create thousands of new and much-needed jobs and community improvements. And Hinson still brags that she voted no on it.

• Trump. Ashley not only praises DJT, but also frequently posts pictures of herself with him. Iowans see a woman who likes to brag about her role as a mother to two young boys (as she should), but in contrast she is fully behind a con artist who has been convicted of multiple felonies and sexual assault. How does this fit the average family in Iowa?

• Demographics – Given all of this, you can overlay it with some simple voter science. Hinson has cultivated her identity among hard-core Republican voters, the group most likely to vote for her. Yes, this demographic is still very common in the red state of Iowa, particularly in rural Iowa. This appears to be the only demographic that supports Hinson. Sarah Corkery, on the other hand, attracts voters from a wide range of demographic groups.

A. As numerous state and national polls show, women lean heavily toward Kamala Harris. Like Sarah, Harris has made reproductive rights a signature issue. So it's hard to imagine that a vote for Harris isn't a vote for Sarah Corkery.

B. Young voters are leaning heavily toward Harris, recent polls show. Same logic.

C. Independent women, at least the ones I've spoken to, also support Harris, hence a similar downward trend.

D. Angry with Trump's Republican voters. Let's be honest. There are a significant number of these voters. Sarah could pull some of these here too.

e. Hispanic and other non-white voters. They are very aware of the rhetoric from both Trump and Hinson. They are the modern version of “The United States is a nation of immigrants” and don’t like being called “trash” or “rapists.”

Q. The Education Voter: This includes all of the populations mentioned above. Iowans of all stripes are seeing firsthand as Kim Reynolds and her party are literally dismantling before their eyes the one thing Iowa has always been known and proud for: our public education system. The impact on the state's more rural and smaller school systems is profound and lasting. And they are angry! It is no coincidence that Sarah Corkery made this issue one of her top issues, even though it remained largely a state issue. Until the 2025 project was published, which envisages the abolition of the US Department of Education, as Trump has publicly announced.

G. Finally, the latest Selzer Iowa poll showed Harris leading Trump by three percentage points overall, a big change from June before Biden left office, when he trailed Trump by 18 points. Again, the down-bot trend could be very real!

Do all of these different demographics mean that Sarah Corkery has more voters than Ashley Hinson? No one can say until after Tuesday. I suspect it will be much closer than many thought possible. But I firmly believe that change is in the air.

2nd district

The 2nd District race pits Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson against Democratic newcomer Sarah Corkery and independent candidate Jody Puffett.

Our support goes to Corkery.

Like Miller-Meeks, Hinson disguises her extreme stance on abortion bans by mentioning her support for exceptions. Corkery points out that Hinson opposed bills guaranteeing a right to contraception.

On immigration, Hinson essentially repeats Republicans' talking points. Corkery supports the bipartisan immigration reform bill and questions whether Republicans are really proliferating after Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott installed razor wire at the border.

But the biggest warning sign for us is Hinson's unwavering support for Donald Trump's agenda. She was endorsed by Trump and has tied her campaign to his candidacy.

So, dear reader, the voter registration numbers are not on Corkery's side, but this is an election like no other. All I'm saying is this race is worth another look. Julie

Did you see yesterday's Iowa Writers' Collaborative Roundup? It's great:

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