A special election is set for Dec. 9 in Iowa House District 7 after the resignation of Republican state Rep. Mike Sexton in September. Sexton, who represented the district since 2015, accepted a presidential appointment as the director of U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development in Iowa.
The district encompasses all of Calhoun, Pocahontas and Sac counties, along with the western portion of Webster County, including 30 incorporated towns and cities.
The contest features Democrat Rachel Burns and Republican Wendy Larson, both of whom call Odebolt in Sac County home.
Rachel Burns: a public servant's transition to politics
Burns is a longtime speech-language pathologist who serves as a volunteer firefighter and EMT, college instructor, and medical examiner for Ida and Crawford counties.
“I was able to build up our fire department from just a first responder EMS crew to one transporting ambulances staffed 24/7,” Burns said. “It is a really big deal for rural Iowa when most other ambulance agencies are struggling and several have shut their doors.”
Burns and her husband moved to Iowa from Southern California in 2009, seeking a better life after the subprime mortgage crisis. Her mother was born in Fort Dodge and grew up in Barnum, though Burns had only visited Iowa a couple of times before relocating.
“There's open space. Everything is green. It's so calming,” Burns said. “We really came here in search of a better life, but now things have deteriorated a little bit.”
Now a mother of two, she decided to run for office because of growing concerns about current affairs and civility among people with different viewpoints.
She received encouragement from former congressional candidate Ryan Melton and Ashley WolfTornabane, who is one of many trying to fill Rep. Randy Feenstra’s seat representing Iowa's 4th District in Congress as he campaigns to become Iowa's next governor.
Catelin Drey of Sioux City also provided inspiration. The Democrat broke a Republican majority in the Iowa Senate with her special election victory in August.
“We're modeling this campaign after that Catelin Drey momentum,” Burns said. “Of course, it’s a different district, and I’m a different candidate. But we’re riding that Catelin Drey energy, and she’s been a supporter for me.”
Burns admitted that winning in a district where Republicans outnumber Democrats by a wide margin will be tough.
“But with GOP control of Iowa over the past several years, things are not going well," she said. "Things are not getting better for rural Iowans. And so, when I'm knocking doors, I've really been able to connect with people.”
Burns views her candidacy as a natural extension of her lifelong commitment to helping others with a focus on health care, education and what she calls day-to-day survival issues for her rural district.
"What I bring to this house seat is content. It is a lifetime of public service. It's knowing education and health care inside and out."
Wendy Larson: a conservative voice for rural Iowa
Wendy Larson, the Republican candidate, is a stay-at-home mom with extensive experience in corporate sales, along with health and wellness.
Originally from northeastern Colorado, Larson married into a five-generation farming family in Sac County.
Her community involvement includes volunteering at a mobile food pantry and at her church, and serving as chair of Femi's Heart, a nonprofit named in memory of a heart transplant recipient. Larson's daughter received a transplant at 4 months old.
Larson's decision to run for office was motivated by concerns over COVID-19 mandates.
“Just watching our freedoms be stripped away and getting angry and frustrated to the point where it’s either put up or shut up,” Larson said. “We were told that for our daughter to be considered a viable candidate for re-transplant, she would have to be fully vaccinated. Just the idea of having to be forced to inject something we didn’t know all the side effects or implications was like, 'We can’t do this.’”
Larson said people living in the district want a conservative leader who shares their values and beliefs.
She supports parental choice in education, including the use of education savings accounts, and noted that her three children have been homeschooled in addition to attending private Christian, charter and public schools.
"People do not want that gender ideology taught in schools. They want kids to think logically with reason and critical thinking skills. They want to be taught the basics of reading, writing and math. We want them to know history so they understand to be a patriot and to love America," Larson added.
Her priorities also include making Iowa more affordable by lowering property taxes, including freezing them for senior citizens, and protecting landowners from the use of eminent domain for private sector projects.
“And what's awful is farmers are having to hire attorneys to defend their property and the land that they've been farming for generations," she said. "So it's costing them so much money just to defend their own land, which is devastating for them."
Larson also seeks to improve mental health services in rural areas, noting the lack of support in the district, which she describes as "very rural" with no Walmart or Hy-Vee.
Larson narrowly lost in the Republican primary to Sexton last year. She emphasized the importance of voter turnout during this race.
“I think Republicans have taken for granted that we are red, and they don't think anything's going to change that," Larson added. "But there's a tremendous effort and organization and activation by the Democrats to uproot the trifecta.”
