A Republican financial investor and a Democratic developmental psychologist have announced their candidacy for the Iowa House District 45 seat. There are now five announced candidates for the position.

Randy Woodbury, 5319 Clemens Blvd., will seek the Republican nomination, and Tara van Brederode, 2007 Friley Road, will seek the Democratic nomination. Both cite their professional backgrounds as their greatest strengths, although their backgrounds are as varied as their political solutions.

Woodbury graduated from Iowa State in 1997 with a bachelor’s degree in finance. A year later he earned his master’s of business administration at Iowa State and later served as an adjunct professor. Woodbury is currently a senior analyst at Principal Global Investors.

He said his strong business background, coupled with 10 years of living in Ames, makes him the strongest candidate.

He approached the state’s problems from a business standpoint.

“We’re in a crossroads in our state’s industry, and I’m not afraid of our budget problem,” said Woodbury, who served as an analyst for a $1.5 billion bond portfolio.

“We need to retain our highly trained college graduates, and the only way is to provide a high-paying economic environment. In order to keep moving ahead, Iowa needs to attract more business parks and biotech industries.”

Tara van Brederode, the Democratic contender who is also a candidate for a Ph.D. in child psychology from the University of Minnesota, saw the state’s problems from a psychological standpoint.

“Every day my daughter gets on the school bus, she travels back in time, because her reading textbooks were published in 1989,” she said. “This is unacceptable because the past 15 years of research into brain development and how children learn to read aren’t incorporated into these texts or teacher’s materials.”

Van Brederode said she wants to reform the entire spectrum of education , from preschool through graduate school. As a former lecturer at the University of Minnesota, she said her firsthand experience with college students convinced her of the need for total reform in the university tuition system.

“With the expenses students are facing, it’s become impossible for them to get much from their college experience, because some work 40 hours a week,” she said. “When they need to work this much to pay tuition, I think we’re at a crisis point.”

Van Brederode is married to fellow psychologist Douglas Gentile, assistant professor of psychology at Iowa State.

The two candidates will fight for a House seat left vacant by Rep. Jane Greimann, who is retiring. Both candidates asserted reasons why they could win the house seat.

Van Brederode said her skills as a graduate student, instructor, former attorney and mother give her the diverse background to make difficult decisions as a state legislator.

“What it boils down to is expertise, and voters recognize this importance,” she said.

Woodbury didn’t point to his career as a professional investment analyst as his strongest asset. Instead, he pointed to his position as trustee for Campus Baptist Church.

“As a trustee at my church I need to deal with everybody’s priorities, which is a skill I can take to the Iowa House.”