Deaconess Irene DeMaris grew up in rural Washington state, where she often got in trouble for driving too fast down gravel roads in the family pickup. She moved to Iowa in 2018 after meeting her now husband. Irene lives in Des Moines, where she is active in her faith community, enjoys riding her bike, and is converting her lawn into a pollinator paradise.

I don’t always get excited about candidates running for office. But when I heard Wade Dooley was running for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture as a Democrat, I was so genuinely thrilled that I startled my two Corgis.

Since moving to Iowa in late 2018, I’ve traveled across the state, listening to rural communities and learning how farming deeply shapes both our economy, and even more so, our identity. One thing has become abundantly clear: when farmers are empowered to lead, big things happen. Farmers are natural problem-solvers, called to work the land, adapt to challenges, and innovate. They already are, and must continue to be, leaders in climate solutions.

Wade Dooley is exactly that kind of leader.