Ahead of the Nov. 5 general election, the T-R sent out questionnaires to the candidates in competitive races across the coverage area. Today’s spotlight focuses on Iowa Senate District 26, which covers all of Marshall County and most of Story County outside of Ames.

In the race to replace retiring two-term Sen. Jeff Edler (R-State Center), Republican nominee Kara Warme of rural Ames, who serves in a leadership role at YSS, will face Democrat Mike Wolfe, a Democrat from rural Maxwell who serves as a project estimator for a local mechanical contractor. The first half of their answers are printed below, and the remainder will be included in Tuesday’s edition of the T-R. The Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce will host a candidate forum with Warme, Wolfe, David Blom, Sue Cahill, Brett Barker and Ryan Condon at Dejardin Hall on the MCC campus on Wednesday, Oct. 30 from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

1. What is your personal, professional and educational background, and why you are running for Iowa Senate?

Kara Warme: First and foremost, I am a wife and mom. My husband, Bryan, and I have been married for 19 years and have two daughters in middle and high school. We live in rural Story County and are the fifth generation of our family to steward Iowa farmland. I want to be a strong voice for Iowa’s agriculture and small businesses.

As a mother of two, senior leader for YSS (formerly Youth & Shelter Services), an American Heritage Girls troop founder and leader, a school-based mentor, and a substitute teacher, I am focused on strengthening education in Iowa. I believe in an Iowa where schools shine as the nation’s best, supported by exceptional teachers, robust mental health services, and active parental involvement.

I’ve learned that nothing makes me feel more at home than engaging with our community. Teaching Sunday school at our church, starting a backpack food program for a local elementary school, and serving as a Spanish translator for new immigrants to our community have all given me chances to connect with diverse families and celebrate the core values we share.

With my professional background in business (20 years in telecommunications and marketing leadership), bolstered by an engineering degree from Stanford University and an MBA from the University of Iowa, I bring to the table a wealth of experience and a perspective that combines innovation with practicality.

Mike Wolfe: For the past 24 years I have lived, worked, and raised a family here in central Iowa. My grandparents were farmers and loggers in rural Washington state. My dad, also Mike, sold insurance and my mom, Linda, was an X-ray technician at our local hospital. After high school, I spent a few years working in San Diego where I met an Iowa farm girl who had a lot of great things to say about her home state as well as her alma mater, Iowa State University. We moved back to Iowa a month after marrying in July of 2000, and we have lived in central Iowa ever since. I graduated from ISU in 2003 with a Construction Engineering degree. I worked for union mechanical contractors in the Des Moines metro while going to school and continued that work full time after graduation. I am currently a project estimator for a local, employee-owned mechanical contractor. About 14 years ago we moved to an acreage outside of Maxwell where we raise sheep, chickens, and honeybees. Our children attended Ballard Community schools, with one still attending. Our oldest attends the University of Iowa and another attends Iowa State.

I am running for Iowa Senate, District 26 because Iowans deserve elected officials that will both listen to and speak up for them, and who will focus on what Iowans want. Most Iowans want public school funds to pay for public schools. Most Iowans are pleased with the service they receive from their AEAs. Even wide-spread opposition from their own constituents didn’t stop Republican lawmakers from passing laws that are hurting small town Iowa. Iowans deserve a better deal, and I will work to deliver that as a senator.

2. In reflecting on recent legislative sessions, the bills passed and signed and spending, taxation and budget priorities, do you feel that the state is currently headed in the right direction? If not, how would you change course?

Warme: I do believe the state is headed in the right direction. When I talk to Iowans across the district, the thing I hear about most right now is people are looking for relief, especially when it comes to property taxes and inflation. Iowa is doing it right. The legislature has passed responsible budgets, tax cuts for families, farmers, and small businesses, and focused on making Iowa a competitive state to live in. In the Iowa Senate, I’d like to continue building on those principles and successes and keep making Iowa even better.

Wolfe: Some recently passed legislation, including the education voucher bill and the AEA reform bill, came from special interest groups outside of the state that do not have the best interests of Iowans at heart. I want to focus on reversing the damaging changes to public education and personal freedom.

3. You are both vying to replace outgoing Sen. Jeff Edler, a Republican who served two terms. Why do you feel that you are the most qualified candidate to fill his shoes?

Warme: While Sen. Edler was in the Iowa Senate, Iowa saw a number of reforms and changes to make our state better and move us forward. He led on important health policy issues like mental health reform and the establishment of Iowa’s first ever children’s mental health program. I want to add to that list of accomplishments and continue us down that path. As a mother, wife, and someone who works in mental health, I want to focus on strengthening education for Iowa students, continuing tax relief for hard-working families, and supporting our agricultural and small business communities.

Wolfe: In my day job as an estimator, my role is to find cost effective solutions to build projects. Every project is different, and methods and materials change over time so you learn how to spot gaps in your knowledge and take advantage of opportunities to learn from others about new approaches. Also, customers don’t always see the source of a problem – they just want it fixed. So you learn how to ask deeper questions to get to root causes and solve the whole problem rather than a single symptom. I plan to bring this approach of problem solving, listening, and root cause analysis to the job of crafting laws. In contrast, my opponent has endorsed Republican policies of private school vouchers, AEA dismantling, eminent domain abuse, and the 6 week abortion ban which the majority of Iowans do not want – clearly not willing to listen!

4. Do you support the AEA reform bill and Education Savings Accounts for students who attend nonpublic schools in Iowa? Additionally, do you believe that Iowa’s public schools are currently adequately funded and on the right track?

Warme: When it comes to schools and Iowa’s education, I want the best. I want the best teachers, I want a system that supports them, and I want the focus to be on helping Iowa students succeed. Iowa schools receive billions of dollars of taxpayer money every year, and have been receiving steady and reliable increases every year.

Wolfe: I attended a legislative forum in Marshalltown where scores of parents, teachers, and AEA staff told their elected officials NOT to pass the AEA reform bill. Parents love the support they receive from the AEA and are rightly concerned that this change to fee-for-service will lead to shortages. Small or rural schools will now have to compete with each other to get staff to help their students rather than pooling together to make sure they all have enough. Hundreds of AEA staff members have already left their positions to seek more stable, reliable employment.

Private school vouchers take money away from the majority of Iowa families to benefit a select few, with no transparency in how that taxpayer money is spent.

The Reynolds administration has requested and received school budget increases below inflation levels for her entire tenure in office. The majority of funds held as “surplus” in our current state budget should have been applied to public schools all along rather than the slow decline in funds that inflation has caused.

5. Do you support efforts to restrict books that contain sexually explicit or LGBTQ+ themes from public schools? Why or why not?

Warme: Like I said before, our schools should be focused on educating our kids and teaching them math, reading, science, and preparing them for successful futures. The bill passed by the legislature puts control back in the hands of parents and local school boards so they can decide what is appropriate for kids in kindergarten and elementary school. As a parent, when it comes to my kids learning about more sensitive topics, I do believe that is a decision best made by the parents.

Wolfe: I support efforts for licensed public educators to determine which books are age and subject appropriate for students. I also support parents’ rights to ask that their own children do not read or check out books that the parents find objectionable. I don’t support banning books or subject matter because one person or group of people doesn’t like the content.

6. Over the last few years, several bills related to gender identity have passed the state legislature, including a ban on transition surgeries before the age of 18 and a law banning transgender athletes who were born male from participating in women’s sports. Do you support these moves, and what, if any, additional legislation would you propose if elected?

Warme: Children are non-partisan, and each one should be valued and protected. When I talk to voters, I tell them I want to advocate for common-sense solutions. It is common-sense to wait until you are an adult to make life-changing, irreversible changes to your body. I have learned through my work in youth mental health that the human brain is not fully developed until age 25. I’ve also talked to young adults who were subjected to irreversible experimental gender treatments as a child and now wish they could go back. We fail our children if we don’t protect them from such things.

It is also common-sense to have biological males compete against biological males, and biological females compete against biological females. It is what is fair and safe for girls. As a former college athlete, it is disheartening to watch a small group of men invade women’s sports and undermine the purpose and intent of Title IX. These changes are common-sense solutions to help kids focus on just being kids.

Wolfe: Gender transition surgeries for minors did not happen in this state before the ban law was passed. This was a messaging bill meant to distract people from the progress of legislation that damaged our AEAs and underfunded our schools.

In February of 2024, Utah School Board member Natalie Cline showed the clear danger to girls sports that comes from banning trans girls. Cline took a picture of young basketball player with a bigger build and posted it on social media with the caption “girls basketball…”. The girl in question wasn’t trans, but that didn’t stop people from making death threats against her! We all know a high school girl that looks like she’s strong enough to throw a guy across a room. Continued demonization of trans girls puts strong young women that don’t meet someone else’s idea of a feminine body type at risk just like this poor girl in Utah.

7. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, the Iowa Legislature has passed a fetal heartbeat bill that bans abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy. Do you support this law, and are there any further restrictions you would seek to impose if elected?

Warme: I am pro-life and will vote to protect life. I have been a volunteer and donor with Birthright, Obria Medical Clinic, Martha’s House of Hope, and Guiding Star Marshalltown. In my current position with YSS, I raise funds to support pregnant and parenting young mothers. The Legislature has passed many impactful laws to protect and value life and I was happy to see the legislation protecting life at a heartbeat go into effect. I think the law that went into effect is a reasonable law to protect life but also ensure there are exceptions for tragic events like rape, incest, and when the life of the mother is threatened.

Wolfe: I will fight to restore the freedom of all Iowans to make their own choices without undue interference from the government. Last session, the Senate Democrats introduced a resolution for a constitutional amendment to enshrine reproductive rights in our Constitution and I support that effort. I trust Iowa women to make the best decisions for themselves and their families. I am also concerned that legislation related to restricting IVF could be introduced in Iowa as it has in other states, and I will work to defeat this if it comes to the floor.