Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City and has been connected to Iowa’s public schools for 38 years. He taught for eleven years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association regional director for 27 years until retiring. He can be reached at BruceLear2419@gmail.com
It’s 36 counties covering 21,546 square miles across northern and western Iowa. It’s the state’s largest Congressional district, but often overlooked, neglected, and forgotten by politicians and pundits.
Iowa’s fourth district is treated as fly-over country—except by the 801,546 people who call it home. I’m one of those people, and I vote.
Why is this huge area ignored?
The simple answer is that registered Republicans outnumber Democrats in IA-04 by more than 120,000. So the know-it-all pundits predict a Game of Thrones “Red wedding” for any Democratic candidate.
Republicans smugly put it in the win column; it’s no sweat. That “R” after the name is enough. It’s magic: the GOP candidate doesn’t need to answer hard questions, do those meet and greets, or listen to voter concerns in living rooms and coffee shops. No town halls necessary. It’s in the bag because of that “Magic R” behind the name.
But don’t tell that to happy warrior David Dawson, the Democratic candidate in IA-04. He’s busy trekking to every part of the district: listening, answering tough questions, and finding solutions for real problems. Dave doesn’t take voters for granted. He’s aggressively earning every vote.
Dave Dawson in Kossuth County (photo published on his campaign’s Facebook page on August 8)
at the Wright County fair in early July
at the Sioux County Youth Fair in mid-July
While Dawson is campaigning from one end of the district to the other, Republican nominee Chris McGowan may already be measuring drapes for his new office in Congress. He isn’t meeting folks across the district. McGowan seems so confident in the “Magic R” that he’s allowed the Sioux City Chamber of Commerce to advertise his current position before one vote is ever counted.
I’ve been involved in a lot of political campaigns, but I’ve never seen a candidate work as hard as Dawson, and he does it with a smile. When I think of David, I’m reminded of an old Muhammad Ali story.
A guy who recognized Ali told the boxer he’d seen him fight, but it was the one where he was down a lot. Ali responded, “That wasn’t me. I’m never down. I am always getting up or I am up.”
That’s how Dave Dawson approaches this campaign. He knows he’s an underdog in a political fight, so he works all day as an assistant Woodbury County attorney and then spends long hours meeting Republicans, independents, and Democrats.
McGowan is campaigning like he’s on third base, having never touched first or second.
He seems to be taking a page from the Randy Feenstra playbook. Feenstra was a Boo Radley candidate of To Kill a Mockingbird fame. He avoided unfriendly crowds and refused to debate. It didn’t work.
Dave Dawson will fight for all Iowans. He will push to clean up rivers, lakes, and streams. He’ll fight for term limits. He’ll vote to ban stock trading for members of Congress. He’ll take steps to protect rural health care, improve mental health counseling for children, and help make daily life more affordable. Dave will advocate for more cancer research, and he’ll protect private land ownership from corporate greed.
He’ll fight to get a farm bill passed at last. Dave’s a guy who understands bipartisan laws are powerful, so he’ll cooperate with the other party when he can and confront when he must.
Where does Chris McGowan stand on the critical issues facing Iowans and the country? My guess is in a few weeks we’ll be blitzed by slick McGowan TV ads, and voters will never really meet the Republican candidate. But it won’t work to label Dave Dawson as just another liberal Democrat. He’s different.
Dave Dawson won’t be a member of Congress who rants and raves. He’ll just get the work done quietly for all the people of the fourth district, and he’ll do it with a smile.
Editor’s note: Laura Belin recorded Dave Dawson’s remarks at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox during the Iowa State Fair.