Often these past few months, I find myself in conversations with friends and neighbors who believe in me, but who question other candidate on our ballot this fall and even consider not voting. I have two thoughts to share on the topic:

Activist in the streets, pragmatist at the polls.

First of all, I vehemently support every person who calls on me and calls on every elected official, from local school board through our president, to do better, listen more, and act with integrity. We should demand the best of our elected leaders at every opportunity. So, by "streets," I mean enery chance we get to communicate with leaders through public events (including rallies and protests), emails, letters, and phone calls. AND, when it comes time to vote, we should always take our chance to make our voices heard and select the candidate who we feel will best represent, work with, and listen to us.

To that end, my second thought:
If you want somone on the ballot who agrees with you on everything, you better be ready to run.

No two of us are going to agree on absolutely everything. What we can do is talk to one another, and it is the responsibility of any elected official to offer opportunities for you to talk and us to listen. When we have a choice between a candidate who will work with us and one who will ignore us, that is no choice. When we have a chance to vote for someone who will take responsibility for their votes and their decisions, we absolutely should take that chance and then push that person to live up to our best ideals of governance. Of leadership.

You want me to be an effective representative. I do my best, but I could do better with other leaders around me. I could be so much more effective with a governor with whom I can sit down and seriously advocate for my constituents, for my neighbors, and for communities I am lucky enough to be a part of, particularly the queer community in Iowa. I could be so much more effective with a federal delegation that cares about hearing from us, that believes me when I talk about why my friends were leaving the state when I stepped up to run. So, I'm asking: help me be a more effective leader by

casting your votes in November for

Rob Sand, Josh Turek, & Christina Bohannan

and then I will be right there with you, every moment, making sure that they hear you, that they hear us, and that we are included in their decisions.

I know each other them personally, and I want them representing me.

I want them representing us.

Iowans Can Now Request Vote by Mail

While it won’t stop the political TV ads, Iowans can now request to vote by mail in the November 2026 Election by submitting a written application to their County Auditor, who must receive it no later than 5:00 p.m. on October 19 to ensure their vote counts.

Once a voter receives their ballot, they must return a filled-out ballot inside the return envelope supplied by the county auditor. The voter has the following options for returning a ballot:

• Mail the ballot so that it is received before 8 PM CT on Election Day.
• Hand-deliver the ballot to their local county auditor during business hours or any time up until 8 PM CT on Election Day.
• Surrender the absentee ballot at the voter's precinct polling place on Election Day and vote a regular ballot.
• Vote a provisional ballot at the polls on Election Day if you cannot surrender your voted absentee ballot.
• Designate someone to return your ballot under one of the following circumstances:

1. The designee is an immediate family member.
2. The designee is a member of your household.
3. You are disabled, and you have designated someone to return your ballot.

Iowa Child Labor Violations 10 Times National Rate

Iowa is seeing 10 times more child labor violations than the rest of the country, after Iowa Republican lawmakers rolled back restrictions on teen work hours, hazardous jobs, and work permits rather than strengthening protections for young workers. I spoke out against Iowa violating federal Child Labor laws in May of 2023. You can still watch my short remarks here. I stand by what I said, and I'm committed to protecting all workers, particularly kids!

FIRST ROUND OF OPIOID FUNDING RELEASED

A total of $1.6 million was awarded to five entities that have programs, services, and/or initiatives to tackle Iowa’s opioid crisis. One of the recipients was our own Johnson County Sheriff's Office, which will receive funds to purchase a high-temperature, smoke-free narcotic and paraphernalia incineration unit to allow the office to safely dispose of narcotics, pharmaceuticals and paraphernalia.