The League of Women Voters and the Ames Chamber of Commerce had their chance to pick the minds of the newest crop of legislature candidates Tuesday, covering everything from Gov. Tom Vilsack’s Iowa Values Fund to national issues such as abortion.

The two groups held a forum Tuesday night at Ames City Hall for the legislative candidates, opening the floor for discussion on the issues likely to sway voter opinions in next Tuesday’s primary.

Seven candidates — Rep. Lisa Heddens, D-Ames; Rep. Jim Kurtenbach, R-Nevada; Democrat Tracy Runkel of Story City; Republican Randy Woodbury of Ames; Democrat Beth Wessel-Kroeschell of Ames; Democrat Shawn Carter of Ames and Democrat Tara van Brederode of Ames — were in attendance to answer questions. Heddens is running for House District 46. Kurtenbach and Runkel are competing in House District 10. Woodbury, Wessel-Kroeschell, Carter and van Brederode are all competing in House District 45.

Several issues, including education, abortion and economic development, were raised during the forum, and each candidate displayed different plans for responding to constituents’ needs.

Wessel-Kroeschell said she plans to use her experience as a public school teacher to rebuild public education from K-12 to post-graduate.

“Small classes and comparative salaries are the most important,” she said.

One of the issues was the importance of the Iowa Values Fund, which was created to help Iowa’s growing economy, create jobs and help generate wealth for Iowans.

“Our state needs a 21st-century infrastructure to support the baby-boomers moving inward from the coasts,” Carter said. “We don’t have that. We need to spend more money and invest in more projects.”

Woodbury suggested a private funds-matching program as an incentive for companies. That could motivate companies and private investors, Woodbury said. He also called for decreasing regulations for small businesses.

Van Brederode voiced her frustrations with the slow economic growth in Iowa.

“Any investment we make just to watch graduates go to Minneapolis and Omaha … It’s just frustrating,” she said. “We need more job growth to allow choices.”

Many of the candidates said it was important to keep graduates in the state.

“Our best and brightest are leaving us in their most productive years,” Carter said.

“We need to promote businesses to keep young people here and offer competitive wages,” Runkel said.

Another question posed during the public forum was that of the candidates’ stances on abortion. The Democratic candidates all favored abortion rights while the Republican candidates were both anti-abortion.

Van Brederode said she agreed with Planned Parenthood’s stance that “abortion should be safe, legal and rare.”

Other Democratic candidates agreed with slight variations.

“I’m comfortable saying I’m pro-choice,” Carter said. “But I do not think it should be used as a birth control method.”

Republican candidates Woodbury and Kurtenbach credited their faith as a basis for their decision.

“There is not much that we can do on a state level as far as abortion is concerned,” Kurtenbach said. “All I can do is not put state dollars into abortions.”

Woodbury encouraged work in adoptive services as an alternative to abortion.

Van Brederode said she wanted to correct mistakes she feels the current Legislature has made.

“Every short-sighted decision the state legislation made last term is costing our people money,” she said. “One vote can make a difference. Be that one vote.”