Anna Ryon has filed papers with the Federal Election Commission to run for Congress in Iowa’s third district, she confirmed on March 2. Her official campaign launch will take place in Des Moines on March 8; scroll down for event details. Ryon is also planning a March 11 event in Council Bluffs, the second-largest city in IA-03.

An attorney currently working for the Office of Consumer Advocate, Ryon began publicly exploring a Congressional campaign last month. Bleeding Heartland posted more background on the candidate here. Ryon said yesterday that new English and Spanish-language versions of annaryon.com will be online soon. Blue Wave Political Partners will help manage her campaign, and she has chosen to open her campaign bank account “at an institution that is not invested in the Dakota Access pipeline.”

Ryon is the second Democratic challenger in IA-03 to declare this week. Mike Sherzan formally entered the race on March 1. As Bleeding Heartland discussed here, other possible candidates include State Senator Matt McCoy and longtime Iowa Democratic campaign operative Pete D’Alessandro.

Two-term Representative David Young is on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s long list of targets for 2018. The sixteen counties in IA-03 contain 167,249 active registered Democrats, 177,408 Republicans, and 167,222 no-party voters, according to the latest figures from the Iowa Secretary of State’s office.

March 2 press release from Anna Ryon:

Consumer Rights Attorney, Anna Ryon, to Announce
Candidacy for Iowa’s District 3 Congressional Seat

“Fearless Voice of our new Politics”
Anna Ryon
P.O. Box 978
Des Moines, Iowa
50304
515-601-0148

Des Moines, Iowa – Consumer rights attorney Anna Ryon will be holding an event to make an announcement about her possible candidacy to represent Iowa’s Third Congressional District on Wednesday, March 8 at 6:00pm at Streetcar 209 in Des Moines’ East Village.

Anna was born in Creston and her family roots are in the heart of the third district in Adams County. A graduate of Grinnell College and Drake Law School, she currently works for the state representing consumer interests on issues in front of the Iowa Utilities Board. Her previous legal experience includes volunteering at Iowa Legal Aid and working at a law firm in Washington, DC representing investors and unions that lost money to Wall Street during the financial crisis. Before attending law school, Anna spent several years teaching in public high schools in rural Virginia and teaching ESL to immigrants from Central America.

In discussing her decision, Anna said, “I intentionally avoided getting into politics for most of my life. I always thought it was enough to have a day job where I was doing something worthwhile and I could leave the vicious game of politics to people better suited for it. But the events of the last year have changed my perspective. I can no longer sit on the sidelines and wait for someone else to do what I’m not willing to do myself. It’s time for me to be willing to put myself on the line and fight for what I believe in.”

Anna lives in the Drake neighborhood of Des Moines with her husband Kevin Althaus. She is happy to be in the role of step-mother to Kevin’s daughter and two sons.

For more information and to download a PDF version of this release, go to annaryon.com.