Has all the wingnut talking points down. Good luck winning in Iowa City!:
Republican Jacob Onken will run against Democrat Elinor Levin for an open seat in the Iowa House of Representatives on Iowa City's south side.
Onken, 32, is an Iowa City resident who works at Collins Aerospace as a contracts manager. He got his bachelor's degree in political science from BYU in Idaho and his juris doctorate degree from the University of Iowa Law School. He grew up in Donahue, just outside of the Quad Cities, and spent two years in Mato Grosso, Brazil, on a missionary trip from 2009-11.
Onken said he had never planned on running for Iowa House but saw concerning trends in the country over the last few years with the economy and in schools. He said he also thinks the traditional structure of families is under attack.
"Obviously, I'm in Johnson County and I'm running as a conservative, so that is always a big challenge," Onken said.
According to the Johnson County Auditor's website, the last Republican elected to a state legislative seat primarily or entirely within Johnson County was Dale Hibbs, a former teacher at City High, who held House District 74 from 1978-80. A portion of Johnson County is represented by Republican state Rep. Bobby Kauffman, but the majority of that district lies in Cedar County and a small slice of Muscatine County.
Onken said he thinks there are plenty of Iowa City residents who agree with him but many feel apprehensive. He said that, while door-knocking in the district, people said they would not put up yard signs because they feared vandalism.
"That's the type of situation I don't want to exist anymore. I want there to be opportunities for both sides to be represented," Onken said. "I think I'm bringing that very important part of our republic to Iowa City, by being an option."
Levin is a private writing tutor and former English teacher who lives in Iowa City's South District. She won the Democratic primary in June for this seat against Tony Currin with 63% of the vote.
No Republican ran in the primary, but Onken was nominated by a party convention. This method of getting on the ballot is allowed under state law after the primary election takes place and was used in two other races this year by both parties.
Onken said he had initially planned to run in the primary, but filed in the wrong House district. He said the county Republicans told him he could instead be nominated at a special convention, which took place July 7.
House District 89 encompasses southern Iowa City, all of University Heights and portions of East Lucas Township. The area was previously represented by longtime state Rep. Mary Mascher, who announced she was retiring at the end of her current term.
If elected, Onken will enter a Legislature that is expected to consider an array of bills in its next session, but two priorities for Gov. Kim Reynolds and the Republicans who will likely control both chambers could be passing restrictions on abortion and providing taxpayer-funded scholarships to help families send their children to private school or home-schooling.
Onken, who is considering home-schooling his own children, said he is in favor of "school choice" but isn't sure if he would support Reynolds' plan since he has not read through the bill. He thinks the state should have a role in funding a child's education even if they do not attend public school.
"The private schools need students too, and students are going to benefit from a private school in certain situations. There's no reason why state money shouldn't follow a student to the private sector as well," he said.
Onken said Roe vs. Wade being overturned was a "huge victory" for the country, calliing it a terrible U.S. Supreme Court decision from its inception. He said he believes life begins at conception and would support further restrictions on abortion, including an amendment to the Iowa Constitution saying there is no right to an abortion.
"I would also support bills that would prevent abortions even earlier than six weeks," he said.
More:Iowa's tradition of easy voting access challenged in recent years with restrictions
On his website, Onken expresses concern with schools "grooming" children multiple times and says teaching about sexuality, gender and LGBTQ topics should be limited, if not prevented entirely in public schools. This term is used by conservatives to accuse public schools of pedophilia for teaching about LGBTQ topics during sexual education courses.
Onken also wants Iowa to join in a Convention of States. There are 19 states formally calling for this already and 34 are needed.
"How the republic functions right now is not how it was designed to function in a lot of ways," he said.
Onken said his goal would be to see more limits placed on the federal judiciary, federal government agencies and the executive orders of the president. Some ideas he would like to see considered at a convention are term limits for Congress or even limiting the page limit of bills so that Congress isn't considering massive legislation that is too hard to understand.
Republican Jacob Onken will run against Democrat Elinor Levin for an open seat in the Iowa House of Representatives on Iowa City's south side.
Onken, 32, is an Iowa City resident who works at Collins Aerospace as a contracts manager. He got his bachelor's degree in political science from BYU in Idaho and his juris doctorate degree from the University of Iowa Law School. He grew up in Donahue, just outside of the Quad Cities, and spent two years in Mato Grosso, Brazil, on a missionary trip from 2009-11.
Onken said he had never planned on running for Iowa House but saw concerning trends in the country over the last few years with the economy and in schools. He said he also thinks the traditional structure of families is under attack.
"Obviously, I'm in Johnson County and I'm running as a conservative, so that is always a big challenge," Onken said.
According to the Johnson County Auditor's website, the last Republican elected to a state legislative seat primarily or entirely within Johnson County was Dale Hibbs, a former teacher at City High, who held House District 74 from 1978-80. A portion of Johnson County is represented by Republican state Rep. Bobby Kauffman, but the majority of that district lies in Cedar County and a small slice of Muscatine County.
Onken said he thinks there are plenty of Iowa City residents who agree with him but many feel apprehensive. He said that, while door-knocking in the district, people said they would not put up yard signs because they feared vandalism.
"That's the type of situation I don't want to exist anymore. I want there to be opportunities for both sides to be represented," Onken said. "I think I'm bringing that very important part of our republic to Iowa City, by being an option."
Levin is a private writing tutor and former English teacher who lives in Iowa City's South District. She won the Democratic primary in June for this seat against Tony Currin with 63% of the vote.
No Republican ran in the primary, but Onken was nominated by a party convention. This method of getting on the ballot is allowed under state law after the primary election takes place and was used in two other races this year by both parties.
Onken said he had initially planned to run in the primary, but filed in the wrong House district. He said the county Republicans told him he could instead be nominated at a special convention, which took place July 7.
House District 89 encompasses southern Iowa City, all of University Heights and portions of East Lucas Township. The area was previously represented by longtime state Rep. Mary Mascher, who announced she was retiring at the end of her current term.
If elected, Onken will enter a Legislature that is expected to consider an array of bills in its next session, but two priorities for Gov. Kim Reynolds and the Republicans who will likely control both chambers could be passing restrictions on abortion and providing taxpayer-funded scholarships to help families send their children to private school or home-schooling.
Onken, who is considering home-schooling his own children, said he is in favor of "school choice" but isn't sure if he would support Reynolds' plan since he has not read through the bill. He thinks the state should have a role in funding a child's education even if they do not attend public school.
"The private schools need students too, and students are going to benefit from a private school in certain situations. There's no reason why state money shouldn't follow a student to the private sector as well," he said.
Onken said Roe vs. Wade being overturned was a "huge victory" for the country, calliing it a terrible U.S. Supreme Court decision from its inception. He said he believes life begins at conception and would support further restrictions on abortion, including an amendment to the Iowa Constitution saying there is no right to an abortion.
"I would also support bills that would prevent abortions even earlier than six weeks," he said.
More:Iowa's tradition of easy voting access challenged in recent years with restrictions
On his website, Onken expresses concern with schools "grooming" children multiple times and says teaching about sexuality, gender and LGBTQ topics should be limited, if not prevented entirely in public schools. This term is used by conservatives to accuse public schools of pedophilia for teaching about LGBTQ topics during sexual education courses.
Onken also wants Iowa to join in a Convention of States. There are 19 states formally calling for this already and 34 are needed.
"How the republic functions right now is not how it was designed to function in a lot of ways," he said.
Onken said his goal would be to see more limits placed on the federal judiciary, federal government agencies and the executive orders of the president. Some ideas he would like to see considered at a convention are term limits for Congress or even limiting the page limit of bills so that Congress isn't considering massive legislation that is too hard to understand.
Meet Jacob Onken, the Republican candidate nominated to run in Iowa City's House District 89
Jacob Onken is the first Republican in a long time to run for a state legislative seat in southern Iowa City. He will face Democrat Elinor Levin.
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