T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY From left to right, Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce President/CEO John Hall, who served as the moderator, Republican Senate District 26 candidate Kara Warme, Democratic Senate District 26 candidate Mike Wolfe, Democratic House District 51 candidate Ryan Condon, incumbent District 52 Rep. Sue Cahill (D-Marshalltown) and Republican District 52 challenger David Blom look on during a forum held inside Dejardin Hall on the MCC campus Wednesday night.

Amidst a political landscape that generally feels as divided as ever, Wednesday night’s Iowa House and Senate candidate forum at Dejardin Hall on the MCC campus saw a surprising amount of consensus formed between the three Democrats and two Republicans who attended.

In Iowa House District 51, which covers roughly ¾ of Marshall County (the northwest, southwest and northeast quadrants) and most of Story County outside of Ames, Democrat Ryan Condon of Nevada is facing Republican Brett Barker, also of Nevada, as both seek to replace retiring Rep. Dave Deyoe (R-Nevada). Due to a last minute work obligation, Barker was unable to make it to the forum. In House District 52, which includes Marshalltown and the southeast corner of the county, two-term incumbent Sue Cahill of Marshalltown is taking on Republican challenger David Blom, also of Marshalltown, and in Senate District 26, which includes all of Marshall County and most of Story County outside of Ames, Republican Kara Warme of rural Ames and Democrat Mike Wolfe of rural Maxwell are facing off in hopes of replacing retiring Sen. Jeff Edler (R-State Center).

Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce President/CEO John Hall served as the moderator and gave each candidate a chance to introduce him or herself. In her introductory remarks, Warme hoped the setting would provide the 30 or so in-person along with others watching on KFJB TV the chance to get to know the candidates in a more personal setting, and Wolfe spoke of the need for a new direction after eight years of complete Republican control. Condon joked that he decided to run for office when his wife called on him to “either shut up or do something about it” when she heard him complaining about the news of the day about a year ago. Cahill touted her long history in Marshalltown dating back 35 years, and Blom highlighted his local roots growing up in the community and becoming a union sheet metal worker at Raymon Enterprises in Albion.

Hall started with a question on economic development and how each candidate would work to bring growth. Wolfe shared his background as a project estimator who has put together budgets for $750 million worth of work in central Iowa, but he worried that a conservative focus on social issues was pushing young people out of the state. Condon said none of his four sons planned to stay in the state, and not just because of the aforementioned social issues but also a perceived lack of opportunity and struggles to afford childcare.

Cahill spoke highly of trade programs available through Iowa Jobs for America’s Graduates (iJAG) but also called for more education funding, and Blom lamented the loss of “creative” small businesses such as the Wax Xtatic Record Store in Marshalltown. Due to a rise in remote work, Warme noted that job seekers are often choosing where they live first and finding a job afterward, so she hoped amenities and quality of life factors would also be considered.

On the issue of Tax Increment Financing (TIF), all of the candidates essentially offered similar viewpoints, describing it as a necessary tool for economic development but calling for it to be used wisely — with Warme and Wolfe making a pitch for as much local control as possible.

“I’m supportive of people having rules and laws as close to them as possible. Des Moines is quite a ways away from here. If Marshalltown wants to have its own tax increment financing rules, it should be able to,” Wolfe said.

One concern he did report hearing, however, was that TIF often benefited large companies at the expense of small businesses. Hall then dove into the controversial matter of the use of eminent domain for CO2 pipelines, which all five of the candidates had expressed opposition to in their recent T-R questionnaires. He asked how they would balance the economic needs of ethanol producers with private property rights.

Cahill didn’t feel eminent domain should be used to help a private company (Summit Carbon Solutions) profit without a public benefit, and Blom recounted his own family’s experiences with eminent domain being used to build a road across his grandfather’s farm. He agreed with Cahill that it shouldn’t be used for a private company.

Warme said she had campaign donors who both supported and opposed the pipeline, and she called for more flexibility in rerouting pipelines to ensure more voluntary agreements — Summit, she noted, has already secured about 70 percent of its easements that way. Wolfe took the chance to point out that Summit’s CEO, Bruce Rastetter, donated $10,000 to his opponent, and Wolfe also felt the pipelines could often be rerouted to run under public grounds like gravel roads. Condon cast the situation in simple terms — a billionaire wanting to “save some bucks and take the land from farmers” — and he also called out Barker for receiving donations from pipeline backers.

“If you’re gonna say, I don’t support this, then don’t support it. It’s not hard. It’s wrong on a moral level. It’s wrong on a legal level. It’s wrong on a science level. This is chasing tax credits for a guy that wants to make more money,” Condon said.

Warme then clarified that she did not oppose the pipeline but felt eminent domain should only be used as a last resort. The next question focused on infrastructure and what role the state should play in funding replacements, and Blom felt Marshall County’s road maintenance had been kept up well. Warme recounted her trips across the county’s gravel roads during her campaign and her work to expand broadband internet access, and Wolfe felt the Department of Transportation (DOT) had been overburdened due to the restructuring and consolidation of state agencies. Condon contended that it came down to a lack of available tax revenue, and he suggested legalizing recreational marijuana as neighboring states like Illinois and Missouri already have to generate more of it, which Cahill agreed with.

After Hall noted Iowa’s position as the slowest growing state in the nation over the last 100 years, Warme — a transplant to the state herself — countered that the numbers are improving in recent years.

“We chose to be here because of the many resources that Iowa has, and there are many people I have met at their doors who have chosen to move to Iowa for the values that are here of hard work and family and faith,” she said. “I believe that what we’re doing is attractive — not taxing retirement income, lowering income tax and welcoming people into our communities. There are many immigrants in the Marshalltown community, and I value that. I think diversity is a beautiful thing that helps all of us learn more and creates opportunities for our businesses, for our children and for all of us.”

Wolfe worried about funding trends for the state’s regent universities, arguing that the state should instead “invest in its future” instead of providing Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) to students attending private schools, and Condon warned of the state bankrupting itself with the voucher program while its once prominent public education ranking continues to drop.

Referencing Iowa’s history in recognizing civil rights, desegregating schools and accepting gay marriage, Cahill criticized a flurry of laws proposed and passed over the last few years that she felt encouraged and legalized discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals. Blom was proud to have grown up in Marshalltown but added that those who have moved here from other countries are just as important to the community’s future.

Drawing from several audience submitted questions, Hall asked each candidate about the diversity of Marshalltown and the unique needs that it creates, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients and English only rules.

“I feel that the community, in Marshalltown especially, is really heartening as an example of what Iowa can be when we’re at our best,” Wolfe said. “It’s welcoming. It’s diverse. It’s a fun place to be. Some of the best times in this campaign have been visiting some of the street fairs in Marshalltown. You don’t get that kind of community if we continue on trying to pass laws about immigration status where we would force law enforcement to try and determine if someone was a legal resident or not.”

Wolfe felt such practices ultimately lead to racial profiling, and Condon, a military veteran, said he had traveled to other countries where voting materials were available in multiple languages, which he said should be replicated in Iowa. Cahill, a retired educator with the Marshalltown Community School District (MCSD), said her experience as an English Language Learners (ELL) teacher had given her “more hope” than almost anything else in the world.

“These children that we have worked with, that I’ve worked with. They are our future. They are our community. I look at our school district and say I have a feeling we would have closed several schools if we did not have the diversity in our community, the people who came in and enriched us,” she said.

Blom, whose mother taught ESL at their church, wanted Marshalltown residents who have come from places as far away as central America and refugee camps in southeast Asia to know they are welcome here, and he was grateful for the friendships he made as a result. He commended business owners with bilingual signage but also said it’s important to have someone in the house who speaks English to allow for communication with law enforcement.

“So many people have pride in coming to Marshalltown, and I’m so glad that they’re here,” he said.

Warme spent time living in Guatemala, Mexico and the Dominican Republic after college and said the ability to communicate in familiar languages was key for immigrant families. On property taxes, Condon and Wolfe advocated for local control in the face of state restrictions, and Cahill described recent tax cuts as “a shell game” that put more strain on city and county governments by eliminating special levies like the one that provided extra funding the Marshalltown Public Library. Blom worried about the impacts of tax hikes on people who survive on fixed or limited incomes, and Warme called for a balance between fiscal responsibility and the quality of life services people want.

One issue all of the candidates agreed on was finding more funding for the Marshalltown Police and Community Team (MPACT), which embeds two social workers from YSS within the MPD to handle non-emergent, non-criminal calls but is set to run out of money at the end of 2025, and placing more of a focus on mental health services in general.

Referencing an attack ad that claims she “turned her back on law enforcement,” Cahill refuted the assertion and felt programs like MPACT free officers up to do more important work while providing help for individuals struggling with addiction. She unsuccessfully proposed a bill to help programs similar to MPACT get off the ground in Marshalltown and other cities but plans to reintroduce it during the next session if she is re-elected.

Blom shared a story of a woman he met during the campaign who has received help from MPACT and said he would be happy to work across the aisle to fund it. Warme, who works for YSS, offered her wholehearted support for MPACT and finding more money to fund it — potentially through the opioid settlement without raising taxes. Spending money preventively, Wolfe said, was much better than waiting until someone ends up in prison, and Condon pointed out that social work has one of the highest burnout rates of any profession.

“I think we need to drastically rethink mental health here in Iowa. We need to have long-term residential facilities. When we say we care about mental health, we need to put the money behind it. If we care about it, let’s do it,” Condon said.

As the forum reached its home stretch, Hall asked each candidate to “set the record straight” on a rumor or accusation leveled against them. Blom said he had no plans to push for any cuts to benefits like Social Security or Medicare for seniors, while Warme took issue with the suggestion that where she grew up — Southern California while her father was serving in the Navy — somehow made her less of an Iowan today.

“I didn’t grow up on a farm in Iowa, but I chose to raise my family on one,” she said.

Wolfe said a push poll had been conducted against him arguing that he would raise taxes and cost thousands of Iowans their jobs.

“That’s probably not what I plan to do. I’m not out here to cost your jobs. I’m out here to help us build our state and build our community,” he said. “There’s room for some progressiveness in our tax code, and we need to make sure that we’re looking out for regular Iowans.”

Condon joked that “everyone loved him” before responding to claims of him being a “bully.” He said he’s simply passionate and blunt, and he touted his willingness to talk to voters of all political stripes, including Trump supporters who also have Ryan Condon signs in their yards.

Cahill praised all of the candidates for stepping up to run and again referenced the claim that she had turned her back on law enforcement. The reason she voted against the bill in question, she said, was because it didn’t include enough of a funding increase for correctional officers after two of them were killed in Anamosa.

She spoke highly of Blom and called him “a good person” despite the barrage of attack ads against her paid for by the Republican Party of Iowa.

“It’s important to know we are not carrying this over to that personal level. He’s not a bad person. I’m not a bad person. We want many of the same things,” she said, before calling on reforms to the campaign advertising system to a round of applause from the crowd.

The goal of that question, Hall said, was to “re-humanize” the candidates in a divisive political environment. From there, each delivered their closing remarks, Warme preached a message of unity and bipartisanship if she is elected, while Wolfe predicted a flurry of “bad bills” and “a recipe for disaster” unless the makeup of the legislature changes. Condon called for major reforms to the campaign finance system, and Cahill reiterated her longstanding presence in Marshalltown and responsiveness to constituents as the only incumbent on the stage.

“You don’t just get a seat at the table. You have to earn a seat at the table,” she said.

Blom thanked everyone in attendance, including his parents, and called for funding every student’s education regardless of their parents’ income while also focusing on strengthening the Iowa Veterans Home, protecting local jobs and keeping taxes low.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.