With the start of a New Year, I want to take the opportunity to reintroduce myself and talk to you about my role as the Iowa Democratic Party state chair.

My name is Rita Hart. My husband and I are farmers in rural Clinton County. I’m a former teacher, a mother, grandmother, and a life-long Iowan who grew up on a dairy farm in northern Iowa.

Our lives on the farm changed pretty dramatically in 2012 after my friends and neighbors here in eastern Iowa voted to have me represent them in the Iowa Senate. Since then, I’ve run for Lt. Governor and for Congress and have served for two years as the leader of the Iowa Democratic Party.

For the last decade I’ve spent the majority of my time working really hard to understand what voters want, what they need, and what concerns them most. I believe that we are put here on this earth to make it a better place, and that’s what I try to do every day.

Rural issues are particularly important to me not only because that’s where I live and how I was raised, but because I believe that the success of the state of Iowa is synonymous with rural economic success and strong rural communities.

Despite reports otherwise, I know that the Democratic Party has not abandoned rural Iowa.

Democrats value hard work, fairness, and freedom just like Republicans. That is why so many of us are more interested in voting for the person on the ballot rather than for the party behind their name.

We are all looking for leaders who will fight for the things we all need: good medical care close to our homes, decent incomes, excellent schools, affordable child care, decent roads,and safety on our streets.

Democrats are champions on these issues that have made Iowans’ lives better no matter where they live: higher minimum wages, Social Security and Medicare, universal health care, strong public schools and affordable housing.

I ran to serve as Chair of the Iowa Democratic Party back in 2023 because I knew that it is important to Iowa that Democrats return to a position of influence within this state.

In order to do that, we created a plan called Mandate for Change that streamlined our fundraising efforts, addressed staffing needs and roles, and established the basic groundwork for future success. I knew then that it would take several election cycles, but if we worked hard, kept listening, and stayed focused, we would earn people’s trust and eventually their votes.

In the last two years, our team has worked hard to rebuild IDP as an institution by creating new financial and staffing modes that make sense. With those changes in place, we are ready to face the next cycle with a plan called Forward: Victory 2026.This plan is all about the work we need to do to improve our party brand by connecting with voters in rural, suburban and urban counties.

My goal is to make sure that the Democratic party becomes the political force that can give Iowans hope for the future. After all, we Iowans just want to believe in and trust our elected leaders and make sure they’re telling us the truth.

It’s up to us to create a healthy two-party system that allows us to elect the people who are going to make our lives better.

With more Democratic representation at the Capitol, we have a chance to promote a more centrist political agenda where a wider range of voters’ voices are actually heard and the extreme positions become less powerful.

A healthy democracy relies on differences in political ideals and policy goals, less tribalism and more respectful disagreement.

I am committed to working with my fellow Democrats to improve our party in order to create a bright future for the state of Iowa.After all, we are all in this state together.

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Rita Hart is the chair of the Iowa Democratic Party.