U.S. Congressional District 1 Democratic candidate Liz Mathis held a meet and greet with voters Thursday, June 23 at the home of Nate and Maggie Willems in Mount Vernon.
Nate, a member of the state legislature for a number of years, recounted when Mathis won her seat in the 2011 special election for Iowa Senate.
“Gov. Branstad had offered Swati Dandekar a lucrative job in state government, and Dandekar had to give up her seat,” Willems said. “The Republicans were ready, with a candidate for the special election, but the one thing they didn’t count on was Liz Mathis running for that same seat.”
The Mathis win maintained the narrow majority Democrats held in the state Senate. Mathis won re-election in 2012, and has been re-elected a number of times.
Mathis said in 2011, one of the issues that had driven her to run for the race wasn’t just to help keep the majority, but because Republicans were leading a push to put gay marriage on the ballot.
As a member of the Iowa Senate, Mathis chaired the health and human services committee.
“A lot of people don’t realize the importance of maintaining the majority,” Mathis said. “During my first years in the Senate, many of the committees were comprised of two Democrats and one Republican, and if you wanted a bill to move on from subcommittees, you could easily do that.”
Even before that 2011 campaign, Mathis had been approached by members of the state Democratic party to run in other races. She sat out the possibility of filling Jim Leach’s U.S. Congressional seat, a race won by Dave Loebsach and held for a number of years. The second race was against Kraig Paulsen, now the Speaker of the House in Iowa.
Mathis said that choosing to run against Ashley Hinson came after Hinson failed to vote for the Jan. 6 commission.
Mathis said she grew up on a farm in Clinton County, so she has had experience with the hard work and chores that take place on a farm. For four summers, she also detasseled, saving that money for her future college education.
Her father, James Edward Rumann, was a farmer and school board member and one of the first no-till farmers in the 1960s, a choice that wasn’t necessarily popular or well known at the time. Her father made sure that the no tilling happened on the acres closest to the roadways at the front of his farm, so others could see it, and after a few years of crop rotations, it paid off.
“That taking chances was something that was instilled in me,” Mathis said. “Nothing great ever comes easy.”
Following college, Mathis was a newscaster for 27 years, working at NBC and ABC-affiliated stations. She also serves as the chief community officer for Four Oaks and has been an advocate for juvenile issues in the state house.
Mathis said that one of her concepts has been a focus on fairness, something former Senator Tom Harkin reiterated was a good driving principle for interacting with passing legislation and interacting with constituents.
Mathis said Hinson’s votes on issues including the Jan. 6 committee, opposing the Violence Against Women Act and opposing the John Lewis voting act were definite ones she felt weren’t fair and got her into the race.
Hinson opposing the COVID Recovery infrastructure bills, but then promoting the success of that legislation in her own state and taking credit for the bill’s eventual passage was a hypocrisy that Mathis called out.
“Iowans do not like it when someone takes credit for a bill that they did not vote for,” Mathis said.
Mathis said that the top five issues in the district include support of Medicare and Social Security, dealing with inflation, prescription drug prices, border wall and reproductive rights.
Mathis encouraged people in attendance to use their hands to knock on doors, use telephones and posts on Facebook about her candidacy and reach out to more than five people.
One of the first questions Mathis received was the importance of the CDC being able to collect information on shootings to come up with solutions, a matter of funding that hasn’t been conducted since the 1970s in scientific research.
Mathis agreed and noted that one of the COVID recovery bills had funding for research on that issue into public health. She noted that looking at social issues including health, housing and other factors that have ripple effects should also be studied in how to reduce gun violence, and she hopes that the CDC collecting information will help that cause. Mathis said that research on the impacts of marijuana has also not been completed for a number of years.
One of the other questions was on how Mathis should deal with the matter of inflation and potentially running against Biden’s presidency to get elected.
Mathis said that the United States is not the only country dealing with inflation issues at the moment, it’s happening everywhere. A lot of that comes because of COVID-19 and its disruptions, as well as Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine.
She said we need to bring more manufacturing items home. Mathis said that isn’t an overnight fix, but that’s one of the ways the country is hurt.
She noted the passage of E15 fuel in Iowa has impacted gas prices in Iowa, and that the proposed tax holiday on gas could reduce prices by roughly another $0.18 per gallon.
Mathis also pointed out that Hinson’s no votes on a price gouging bill and baby formula showed she was not voting in interests of Iowans to correct inflation.
Mathis also noted more support of child care and increasing workers in the child care industry are needed, as is tackling elements of the housing crisis.
Liz Mathis (right) discusses an issue with Bridget O’Connor at the campaign event.