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Meet Your Local Candidates: State Rep. District 76

Contested June 7 GOP Primary

Tony Chavez (R)
Derek Wulf (R)

The June 7 Primary in Tama County features several contested Republican races while the Democratic challengers in all races are running unopposed. Look for a subsequent questionnaire that includes all the candidates in the lead-up to the General Election on Nov. 8, 2022.

Due to limited space, some questions were omitted from the print version of the North Tama Telegraph.

State Representative District 76 – vote for no more than one

Includes Traer, Dysart, and Buckingham areas

Tony Chavez

Age: 26

Residence: Cedar Falls

Profession: Small business owner/Consultant

Education: B.A. Political Science, Iowa State University

Family: Bachelor

What motivated you to run for elected office? I’m running for office to help the people I care about, and keep Iowa as the place of opportunity that it was to my family when we immigrated here. After talking with members of my community, family, and friends, I decided this was the best way to do it.

What do you see as the primary roles and responsibilities for the position you are running for? The primary role of a legislator is to realize the dreams and goals of their constituents in the statehouse, and to use the resources available to them to their fullest extent in efforts to help these same people. To communicate clearly, to be attentive to their needs, and to be vigilant in their votes are the character marks in a good representative to the people.

What challenges do you see small, rural communities like yours facing today as compared to larger cities and suburbs? What do you plan to do to help meet those challenges as an elected official? The biggest challenge is going to be getting their issues on the agenda at the capital. I have experience and knowledge working at the statehouse as a clerk and as an employee to the state party running a statewide field program, and I will be able to achieve goals that a regular freshman legislator wouldn’t be able to because of my relationships with current legislators and leaders. I will do everything I can to make sure the rural agenda is not ignored.

Where do you stand on funding for rural public schools – is it adequate or otherwise? Also, what is your position on the Student First Scholarship Program (private school voucher bill) recently passed by the Iowa Senate and backed by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-Iowa)? School funding and scholarships will be one of the most important issues on the ballot this year. I support the scholarship program because of my belief in parent’s rights, and the belief that every parent should have control over what their child will learn and be exposed to in the realm of public education and be able to leave if it is not satisfactory. While Republican statehouse representatives found themselves split over the issue of state funding in rural schools and prevented the passing of this scholarship program, I have no doubt this next assembly will reach a plan that everyone will be pleased with that will both keep our rural schools open and well-funded and give parents what are their God-given rights.

The continuing development of corporate-owned, industrial wind energy projects in Tama County has become a hot-button issue in just the last six weeks. What is your position & why regarding A) a possible wind energy moratorium being enacted in the county – temporary or otherwise, and B) property rights as it relates to industrial wind energy projects? The industrial wind projects capitalize on Iowan hospitality and a generous subsidy from the federal government. I have heard from many Tama residents that they feel ignored by their board of supervisors who reside over the issue, and although it would be outside of my domain as a state legislator I would support a temporary moratorium to allow community members to organize and work to build their county the way they want it. When it comes to individual property rights, we certainly cannot legislate people not to sign on to easements, but judging by the liberties that are being taken by these legal agreements at home and across the state, I am hard-pressed to say that these residents have received what they’ve bargained for.

Why should people vote for you on June 7, 2022? I am a strong Christian, staunchly pro-life, with a clear record on the right to keep and bear arms and religious freedom, along with supporting veterans, law enforcement and lowering taxes. I’m asking for your vote because Tax & Spend Democrats are raising the first American Generation that can’t expect to do better than their parents. We need to leave our children with opportunities instead of debt. I will listen to you and I will fight for you. I would be humbled to receive your vote on June 7th.

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Derek Wulf

Age: 40

Residence: Hudson

Profession: Farmer/Rancher

Education: I am a graduate of Hudson High School, then attended Iowa State University where I received a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science.

Family: I am married to my wife of 15 years, Dresden, who is an Animal Science instructor at Hawkeye Community College. We have two daughters, Aubrey, who is 10, and Claire, who is 6.

What motivated you to run for elected office? As a lifelong farmer and a passionate father, I want to make sure our rural and small-town interests are being represented down in Des Moines. I was born and raised right here in Southern Black Hawk County. My family and friends are here. My farm is here.

What do you see as the primary roles and responsibilities for the position you are running for? My top priority will be to make sure that Iowa is staying on the right track down in the statehouse, and that the voices of my neighbors here in District 76 are being heard. It’s pretty easy to see which states are being run the right way and which states are on the wrong track. I will do my best to make sure that Iowa stays on the right track when it comes to keeping our taxes low, our budget balanced, and that there is one more voice of common sense down in the House of Representatives.

What challenges do you see small, rural communities like yours facing today as compared to larger cities and suburbs? What do you plan to do to help meet those challenges as an elected official? It’s no secret that our rural Iowa communities are struggling while some of the larger cities continue to grow. We need to incentivize rural-Iowa investment both through funding and through setting good policies at the state level. I’ve lived in this area long enough to see too many restaurants and other businesses struggle. I’ve seen too many neighborhoods become ghost towns. And I’ve seen too many of our neighbors leave the area for other jobs.

About everyone that I know that has left has told me they wish they could have stayed, but they needed to move for a job. We need to do what we can to incentivize investments in our rural towns and smaller cities. We need to make sure that high-speed internet, either wired or wireless, is available whether you’re in town or out in the country. We need to incentivize developers to build new housing in more rural areas. And we need to make sure our schools in these towns are getting the support and continued funding they need to keep delivering outstanding education to our future business owners and community leaders.

If we focus on these areas, not only will our rural towns survive, but I believe you will begin to see folks that left for jobs in the bigger cities start to come back. If you can do your job from one of our towns, it’s hard to beat the quality of life that our area of the state can offer.

Where do you stand on funding for rural public schools – is it adequate or otherwise? Also, what is your position on the Student First Scholarship Program (private school voucher bill) recently passed by the Iowa Senate and backed by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-Iowa)? I came up through Hudson, have two girls going there now, and have nothing but respect for the schools in our area. To most of our communities, these smaller schools are the foundations of our towns. I’ll work to ensure that Iowa continues to invest the necessary funding to keep our area’s schools going strong, and we redirect funding from other programs into programs that will incentivize folks to teach in rural Iowa.

I’m a firm believer that the schools in our area are doing a good job at listening to common sense and making sure that a teacher’s politics aren’t influencing the young minds in their classroom in a wrong or weird way. That being said, we’ve all seen the crazy stories coming out of some of the schools in the big cities. I’d be in favor of looking at a plan that wouldn’t negatively impact our more rural schools, but could allow more choice for the parents that feel trapped in the bigger school districts.

The continuing development of corporate-owned, industrial wind energy projects in Tama County has become a hot-button issue in just the last six weeks. What is your position & why regarding A) a possible wind energy moratorium being enacted in the county – temporary or otherwise, and B) property rights as it relates to industrial wind energy projects? On the industrial wind turbine topic, I personally am not a wind turbine supporter and would not be favorable of having them on my own farms.

In the case of Tama county specifically, where there does not seem to be support locally and where there are apparent outdated ordinances, I think it is critically important that the necessary time is taken so that the proper setbacks can be established, all potential health concerns can be assessed, property value changes can be addressed, and that a decommissioning plan and cost structure is established. I want to be absolutely confident that my children and their children don’t have to deal with the issues that could arise if the industry does not become viable on its own, given it is so heavily subsidized by the government today which has led to the industries growth.

With that being said, I am a strong supporter of property rights because I believe I have no more right to tell you what you can do with your land than you do on mine, so if there are areas of the state where the overwhelming number of landowners and community members are supportive, I think they should have that right to seek out projects.

From the perspective of potentially being elected as a State Representative for our House District 76, I think at a minimum, these discussions need to be heard in Des Moines to get more consistency as to how these projects and companies grow across the state so that no one can take advantage of our precious Iowa farmland and that Iowans are protected whether they are in support or against these projects in their local communities.

Why should people vote for you on June 7, 2022? As your neighbor, I ask for your vote because I believe I can do the best job of representing our slice of Iowa down in Des Moines. Having lived here my whole life, I have a good feel for our area. I will be quick to take your call, respond to your email, and vote my conscience on policies that are important to those of us here in this part of the state.

As a farmer, a husband, and a father, I’m going to work every day to make sure that Iowa stays on the right track. I want to ensure that our kids and their kids get to have the kind of upbringing that we all got to experience. I want our communities to be safe, our schools to be strong, and while many parts of the country seem to be getting crazier and crazier, I want our state to stay grounded in faith, family, law and order, and freedom.