I love to do the quick math when someone dumps a bunch of personal weath into a campaign run — Kurt Meyer (who cares where the heck he lives now eh?) put in $108,000 of his own (or his wifes?) money into this race.
For the just over 5,000 votes he got — he personally paid just over $22.50 per vote out of his pocket. That is amazing.
In 1920 the 19 th amendment was passed, giving women in Iowa and everywhere else in the United States the right to vote. Even before it was passed several western states allowed women to vote and in 1916 Jeannette Rankin was the first woman elected to congress. Since then 249 women have been elected to the House of Representatives—none of them from Iowa. Iowa is only one of two states (the other is Mississippi) that has never elected a woman congress person or governor. Astonishing.
Several people (all men) have asked me why the gender of a candidate matters. My answer is that it matters because we are electing a representative—someone who is supposed to represent voters—and half of the voters in Iowa are female. Yet all of Iowa's representatives, both of its senators, and its governor are all male.
That said, I could never vote for a candidate just because of her gender, so I looked at all of the democratic candidates for the fourth district and these are the reasons that I believe that Becky Greenwald is the best candidate:
First, Becky Greenwald is the most electable in the general election. Unlike some of the other candidates, she has spent decades building relationships in the district. She's worked in the democratic party for years, helping other democrats to be elected. This has paid off for her in endorsements (Tom and Christie Vilsack, several state senators and representatives, and the Des Moines Register).
Secondly, she is doing well at fund raising. She's raised the most of any of the candidates on Act Blue. Not counting self-funding, she has raised more than any other of the candidates period. Two of the candidates have not even raised enough money to have to file financial reports—which means that they have raised less than $5000 each. It is imperative that the democratic nominee have the money needed to face Tom Lathem in the general election. None of the democratic candidates have much name recognition. Whoever gets the nomination will have to be able to afford to advertise to get his or her name out there.
I will support whomever gets the nomination, but I'm backing Becky because I believe that she best represents my interests and because I know she has the best chance of being elected in November.
Lori Hebel, Emmetsburg, IA
I recently spoke with a former client colleague who I assisted in a hospital expansion project. Although it’s been several years since I worked with this organization, the project stands out in my mind as a very gratifying professional experience.
The challenge for this hospital was to generate the philanthropic funding required to build a new and expanded Emergency Room. They needed $3 million to make this happen. As I recall, their capital campaign generated $3.3 million and a terrific new ER opened 18 months ago. It’s a handsome facility… but more important, it brings a much higher level of emergency care to an entire community.
One reality of healthcare today is a significant number of people coming to an Emergency Room do so without insurance and without ability to pay, knowing (hoping?) they won’t be turned away. To address this situation, hospitals expand their emergency facilities. Often, additional space is NOT driven by an increase in medical emergencies but rather the need for a universal healthcare plan, one that covers every man, woman, and child in the United States.
I’m proud of this hospital… for the care they provide, for their commitment to the community, and for their many dedicated employees. It was a pleasure to work with them and a good example of the positive results that can be brought about through a community-wide collaboration.
But expanded facilities won’t solve our nation’s healthcare dilemma. This will require positive results coming out of Washington, which in turn is likely to require a Democratic President and increased Democratic margins in the House and the Senate.
Like many 4th district Iowans, I am committed to meaningful healthcare reform. I anticipate working hard to generate the desired results when a new congress convenes next January. Of course, other changes must take place in the next 9 months for me to have this opportunity, including a change in our congressional representation. I’m committed to helping make this change too!
Until next time,
Kurt Meyer
Congressional Candidate for Iowa's 4th District
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