To the editor,
Democrats in Iowa’s 4th U.S. House District have a rare opportunity to choose one of three candidates competing in the June 5 primary to run for the seat against Republican incumbent Steve King. By far the best choice is J.D. Scholten.
First, Scholten is a native of Sioux City, the far western part of the district to which most of the rest of the district relates. Second, his desire and ability to communicate with people has taken him on countless visits around the territory talking with residents about the major issues he has focused on. Third, he has organized a sophisticated and powerful campaign that has worked hard to earn a large fund of grassroots contributions.
What a surprisingly refreshing candidate J.D. is! His bright, upbeat presentation and positive outlook invite conversation. His responses are direct and uncomplicated as he carefully unwraps the complexities of an issue. Loquacity is not his habit. He does not varnish facts and he listens eagerly to what others say. His references can be pleasingly unusual.
About immigration (he is firm about the need to welcome the foreign born and provide a path to citizenship): “When I played professional baseball, it didn’t matter what country my shortstop was from or what his skin color was or his mother tongue.” Scholten’s warm personality, imaginative approach to issues, and pragmatism will make him the perfect networker on his constituents’ behalf.
Health care, Scholten says, is the most important issue to the majority of 4th district residents. Because the district is rural, he emphasizes strategies to deliver health care to rural areas and keep clinics and hospitals open and effective. He favors policies with a public option gradually leading to a universal health care system.
In other issues, Scholten recognizes the visible and foreseeable effects of climate change on our way of life. He advocates careful nurturing of tillable soils rather than concentrating on economic efficiency alone (“We must help our farms become environmentally secure as well as economically secure when we pass them on”). Farm policies that support small and independent farmers and a “strong and flexible Conservation Title” in the farm bill is Scholten’s aim. He expresses excitement over innovations like carbon farming to enhance soils and limit the destruction of the atmosphere and he is very interested in the potential of solar and other alternative energies as additions to Iowa’s economy.
We need J.D. Scholten in the U.S. House of Representatives. Those who live in Iowa’s 4th U.S. District deserve to be respected by their representative. Their hard work and enterprise merit the same energetic pursuit of federal assistance and legislation as other districts for their educational institutions, their infrastructure, their soil health. It can be a new day here. Vote for J.D. Scholten as your Democratic candidate June 5.
Jane Alexander, Jefferson
