Editorial: Vote for Biden, Greenfield, Scholten, Huddleston

Those who have not voted have less than a week to do so. For those catching up, today we restate our endorsements for the November general elections — a vote as historic as any for Iowa and the nation. We have a president with a sneering contempt for the rule of law, a senator up for re-election who refuses to stand up to him, and a legislature that is running Iowa off the rails. We endorse Joe Biden for president, Theresa Greenfield for US Senate, JD Scholten for Congress and Sarah Huddleston for Iowa House of Representatives. We have not endorsed in the Iowa Senate race because, through no fault of the candidates, they have not been able to campaign in Storm Lake and state their case.

Joe Biden is a decent man who decided to run when racism lit up Charlottesville and President Trump called the neo-Nazis “fine people.” Biden said he got in the fight for the soul of America. Biden grew as a candidate through the primary cycle. He started out as a “return to normal” candidate but became a leader who realizes that the nation is at an epochal moment. Either we move forward together or we unravel in chaotic tribalism. He has put climate change and rebuilding rural and Rust Belt America at the center of his agenda, and has refocused the progressive message on working people. Biden has been tested by life and career, we know who he is and what he stands for: dignity for each person, a fair shake, equal opportunity, a safety net that lifts everyone up but holds nobody back. That’s what America needs right now. We need a president who can stitch this nation together again. Biden is the man to do it. Plus, he will get us pulling together to whip this pandemic. We can do anything if we put our minds to it, Biden likes to say. That’s the American spirit we need to restore.

Theresa Greenfield is nothing if not a hard worker who remembers where she came from: a family farm just over the Minnesota border. She lost her husband to a tragic work accident and was left with two children to rear on her own, with the help of a union pension and Social Security. She ran principally to defend Social Security from unyielding assaults. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Red Oak, was ineffective in defending farmers from Trump’s disastrous trade wars and Big Oil’s campaign against ethanol waged through the EPA. The only thing keeping Iowa afloat: disaster payments. That speaks to the last four years of the Trump-Ernst show. Greenfield will work harder and smarter, and will not forget her principles. We need a senator who will stand up for Iowa. Ernst refused to. Greenfield will.

JD Scholten set the stage for Randy Feenstra to beat Rep. Steve King in a Republican primary last June. Scholten has been campaigning for three years non-stop for anti-trust reform, open markets for farmers, a farm bill that builds resilient agriculture through a stronger conservation regime (see Editor’s Notebook on this page), and affordable health care for everyone. Scholten hit 374 towns in 39 counties in his camper, Sioux City Sue, and was in Storm Lake again last weekend. Feenstra hasn’t bothered to show up. He thinks he has it in the bag. Feenstra is as extreme as Trump and King — he is all for the anti-immigrant balderdash they served up for so long. He simply is not as talkative. Vote for Scholten. He doesn’t take money from the big ag integrators like Feenstra does — he wants to break them up, and that’s why Smithfield is larding the money on the Hull state senator. Scholten is running an uphill battle, no doubt, but he came within three percentage points of King. Scholten is a populist who will stand up to the system. Feenstra is purchased by the system. Scholten can win — Berkley Bedell did it after Watergate, and Scholten can do it in the wake of the Trump disaster train.

Sara Huddleston would become the first Latina to be elected to the Iowa Legislature if Buena Vista and Sac County voters favor her over incumbent Rep. Gary Worthan, R-Storm Lake. Huddleston served 12 years on the Storm Lake City Council and ran against Worthan before. She is back with a strong message of protecting public and private education (she attended Simpson and graduated from Buena Vista), restoring the bargaining rights of public employees, advocating for the civil rights of immigrants and providing for adequate health care. Worthan has done little for Storm Lake. He said dredging was a “luxury” (but was happy to organize a Trump boat parade). He is covered in the hubris of Republicans controlling the Senate, the House and the governorship. Democrats can flip the House and provide the necessary check on Gov. Kim Reynolds and her brand of incompetence. Huddleston loves to listen and returns phone calls, unlike Worthan. She is friendly and fun. She loves Storm Lake. She is grateful to be a citizen. She wants to serve. Let’s give her that opportunity, and make some history.

Craig Williams, a Carroll Republican, is running for Iowa Senate, and CJ Petersen of Breda is running against him as a Democrat. Williams is likely to win the Republican district unless the blue wave of 2018 becomes a tsunami. We hope he has more regard for Storm Lake than Sen. Mark Segebart, R-Vail. We need a senator, too.