State Republican and Democrat legislators are set to face off on the baseball field in a slow-pitch softball game for charity.

 

The game will be played on May 1 at Principal Park in Des Moines following the Iowa Cubs game that starts at 1:00 pm.

 

The event was announced on Thursday by state Reps. Carter Nordman (R-Adel), Phil Thompson, (R-Boone), Chris Hall, (D-Sioux City), Ras Smith, (D-Waterloo) and state Senators Carrie Koelker, (R-Dyersville) and Zach Walls, D-Coralville. 

 

Money raised through ticket sales and sponsorships will go to charity. A portion of the proceeds from tickets purchased for the Democrats will go toward the Iowa Food Bank Association and proceeds from Republican tickets will go to the Puppy Jake Foundation. 

 

Nordman said that the game is an opportunity for legislators to come together and have fun, as well as a way to showcase Iowa’s tourism opportunities and its connection to baseball.

 

“We wanted to promote that [connection] by doing a bipartisan charity game,” said Nordman. “Doing events like this show that when we’re raising money for charities, we’re not ‘Republicans’, we’re not ‘Democrats’, we’re just Iowans, and that’s what Iowans do.

 

Rep. Jennifer Konfrst (D-Windsor Heights) also said that it would be a good opportunity for bipartisanship and the legislature could use that right now.

 

“After being pretty separated during Covid,  we didn’t have a lot of opportunities for getting to know each other in 2021,” said Konfrst. “It’s been such a busy and stressful session that it’s important for us to be able to have fun together and know each other as people too.” 

 

The Iowa Food Bank Association assists food banks across the state in order to ensure that all Iowans have access to sufficient food. Konfrst said that the Democrats chose the Iowa Food Bank association because food insecurity has increased in Iowa since the pandemic.

 

“We know that there are families who are struggling and we want to make sure that we can help keep the food bank shelves full,” she said. 

 

The Puppy Jake Foundation trains service dogs to give to military veterans. Nordman said that the decision for the charity was left up to the Republican caucus, and the majority of the members chose Puppy Jake. 

 

“These are veterans that could suffer from PTSD or something else that a service dog could help with and really benefit their lives and help them with that process of transition,” he said.

 

Nordman said he will be participating in the game, but doesn’t know yet what position he’ll play.

 

“We’re looking at doing a practice sometime closer to the event,” said Norman. “Skylar Wheeler is a baseball coach, and Bobby Kauffman plays competitive slow-pitch softball during the summer, so I think we’re gonna have a pretty strong team.”

 

Konfrst is the manager for the Democrats team and said she loves baseball. She jokingly said that she was given the position because they didn’t want her on the field.

 

“I will not be playing, I’ll just be devising a brilliant strategy behind the scenes,“ she said. “I think that we’re gonna have some ringers, some people that will surprise you. I don’t want to give their names because they’re gonna be surprises to the other team.”

 

Konfrst predicted a Democrat win of 10-2 over the Republicans. 

 

Nordman said he couldn’t predict the score but that he believes the Republicans will win.

 

Tickets for the game can be purchased through a Republican link and a Democrat link and the money will go to their respective charities..

 

• Republican Tickets: https://fevo.me/iowarepublicans (Puppy Jake Foundation)

• Democrat Tickets: https://fevo.me/iowademocrats (Iowa Food Bank Association)

Tickets to the charity game will also grant you access to the Iowa Cubs game before it.