On the evening of Monday, Sept. 30, The Tama American Legion hosted Iowa State House District 53 candidates Tommy Hexter `21, 25, of Grinnell, and incumbent Dean Fisher, 68, of Montour, for a forum sponsored by the local chapter of the American Association of University Women, moderated by Joanna Hofer.
Hexter and Fisher debated on a variety of topics, including gender identity, abortion, environmental issues, the state budget and Iowa’s private school voucher program. The candidates agreed upon these topics before Monday’s debate.
Fisher said he thought the debate went well and that he felt good about the upcoming election. Fisher has served five terms as a state representative and currently serves as chair of the Committee on Environmental Protection in the state legislature.
After the debate, Hexter said he hoped the debate brought up the issues that mattered to Iowans. After graduating from Grinnell College in 2021, Hexter has focused on environmental sustainability by working to improve food access in town through Grinnell Farm to Table and serving as commissioner for the Poweshiek County Soil and Water Conservation District.
“All the people of our district are struggling from the same problems,” Hexter said after the debate. “We need to treat them with compassion and find real and creative solutions. I just wanted to let people know that there’s a new voice, someone young, that can represent them, that has everyone’s best interests in mind.”
“Dean and I have experience working together in the Iowa State House,” Hexter said. “When I work at the Farmers Union, I go and I talk to him as my state representative. We’ve known each other for some time.”
“We’ve sat down at the table together, decided on the issues we were going to discuss, and that made it really possible for tonight to happen,” Hexter said.
Fisher also addressed the history between himself and Hexter.
“I wouldn’t say we’ve worked together,” Fisher said. “We’ve had some conversations. He’s a likable person but I just don’t think our values are aligned.”
During the debate, the candidates expressed oppositional views on gender identity and abortion access. Hexter affirmed the rights of transgender people and opposed a failed bill sponsored by Fisher to remove gender identity from Iowa’s civil rights laws.
“The problem is simply that the actions of people claiming to be transgender, claiming to be the sex opposite of what their biological gender is, is violating the rights of other people,” Fisher said.
Both candidates drew on their faith when explaining their views on abortion.
“Life is sacred,” Fisher said. “It’s spread to us by the Creator. We must protect human life at all times, even in the womb.”
Hexter, however, referenced a recent poll that found that 59% of Iowans disapprove of the state’s “fetal heartbeat law,” which prohibits most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.
“I’m a Christian, and I’m a Catholic, and I do believe in the sanctity of life from the moment of conception,” Hexter said. “But I know that women need to have freedom over their own bodies.”
Hexter advocated for spending more of the state’s budget surplus, while Fisher stressed fiscal responsibility.
Hexter proposed environmental reforms including building riparian buffers along rivers and creeks, funding environmental research by land grant institutions and establishing a habitat corridor throughout the state.
Both candidates opposed the construction of an underground carbon dioxide pipeline that would store CO2 emissions from Iowa ethanol plants.
Fisher said that it would be best to continue with the state’s current environmental policies. “Iowa is a clean and beautiful state,” Fisher said.
Next, the debate moved to the topic of government vouchers for families to pay for private school, which came up multiple times. Beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, all Iowa families will be eligible to use up to $7,598 in an Education Savings Account for private school tuition as a result of the Students First Act, passed in January 2023.
“I don’t think that public money should ever go towards a private institution,” Hexter said.
Fisher said it was important that parents of all income levels be able to choose if their child attended public or private school.
As of 2022, 42 out of 99 counties in Iowa lack private schools. In March, the House Ethics Committee unanimously dismissed an ethics complaint against Fisher for leading the founding of a Tama-Toledo private Christian school while simultaneously voting for the Students First Act.
Near the end of the debate, the candidates responded to a question submitted by audience members about banned books. Audience members were invited to submit questions at the beginning of the debate.
The candidates were uninformed on the subject matter of the audience-submitted questions.
During his response to the question regarding book banning, Fisher invited an audience member to read an excerpt from the book “Push” by Sapphire, which he claimed contained pornographic content and had been found in school libraries. Fisher did not say what libraries the book had been found in.
After the candidates’ closing statement, attendees lined up to chat with them. Ori Shaham `23.5, Hexter’s campaign manager, said he was excited about the student attendance at the debate.
“I was thrilled to see how many students came out,” Shaham said. “I just saw a really good student presence and the more students that care and are involved, the better.”
