The latest wave of political campaigning hit Grinnell on Thursday when Democratic U.S. House of Representatives candidate Pat Murphy visited the Poweshiek County Democratic Headquarters on Fourth Ave.
Almost 60 supporters gathered around 5 p.m. to hear Murphy speak about universal preschool, raising the minimum wage, women’s rights, civil rights for the LGBTQ community and getting out the vote.
Photo by John Brady.
Murphy, a 25-year State Representative and former Speaker of the Iowa House from Dubuque, spoke about the Iowa Supreme Court’s 2009 decision to recognize gay marriage, noting that Iowa was the third state in the nation to do so.
“We should continue to expand that until it’s all 50 states,” Murphy said.
One point Murphy emphasized was making use of early voting and absentee ballots to turn out a Democratic base that has lagged behind Republicans in midterm
“It’s an easy way to take care of it and you don’t have to worry about it on Election Day,” Murphy said, adding that unforeseeable elements like weather and sickness could prevent people from voting.
“We need to make sure we get every vote we can from the top of the ticket all the way down to the bottom,” he said.
The audience also heard from a number of local Democratic candidates including Eric Pederson, a candidate running for State Representative, Eldon Snook and Jason Roudabush, two candidates for Poweshiek County Supervisor, Becky Petig, the incumbent Poweshiek County Attorney, and Poweshiek County Sheriff Tom Kriegel.
In the end, many in attendance left the event feeling energetic and encouraged.
“I really want the Democratic candidates to win,” said Michael Cummings ’18, who spent his summer working for Democrat Staci Appel’s campaign for the U.S. House Third District seat.
Murphy said he believed Democrats could win Poweshiek County in November with the support of their base.
“Quite frankly, we feel good about our ability to win here in Poweshiek County,” he said.
Registered voters in Poweshiek County can download an absentee ballot request form at poweshiekcounty.org.
