In the wake of Rep. Jane Greimann’s announcement she will not seek the re-election, an Ames resident has made clear her intention to fill the spot.

Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, 518 Ash Ave., has said she intends to seek election since she feels it is “an exciting times for Democrats.”

“I’ve had a lifelong interest in politics,” Wessel-Kroeschell said. “I want to secure the future for Iowa’s young people.”

Wessel-Kroeschell, an ISU alumna, has lived in Ames nearly all her life. She left Ames to get her undergraduate degree at the University of Northern Iowa but came back to get a master’s degree in public administration from Iowa State.

Wessel-Kroeschell works for ISU Extension out of her home and said she is anxious for a new challenge.

“I’ve seen firsthand what the job is … I don’t feel intimidated,” Wessel-Kroeschell said. “It’s a lot of work, but this isn’t the first time I’ve helped to run a campaign.”

She has experience working with the legislature as a former clerk to former state senators Bill Bernau and Ralph Rosenberg.

Bernau said he feels Wessel-Kroeschell is an excellent candidate for the soon-vacant seat.

“Her role in the legislature was to work with constituents and do research on the bills that I was to vote on,” Bernau said. “Beth was helping me work in a legislature with similar budgets to current trends.”

Wessel-Kroeschell said she has plenty of ideas about what she wants to do in the legislature, but the biggest is getting funding back into the education system.

“I’d like to improve the quality of education rather than take away from it … both at the regent level and kindergarten through grade 12,” she said.

She said she feels Democrats need to regain control of the state Legislature in order to effect change, especially in educational issues.

“It’s obvious that Republicans have not made regent universities a priority,” Wessel-Kroeschell said. “It will damage the quality of education and research out of these schools.”

Wessel-Kroeschell said her family has been involved in the ISU community since before she was born.

She said her father was a political science professor until 1987, and her husband, Tom, is currently the associate athletic director for media relations for the university.

Wessel-Kroeschell said she would like to reverse a tax cut of about 10 percent from 1997.

“If we had not made those cuts, we would not be having trouble funding the K-12s and regents,” Wessel-Kroeschell said. “I think those are things that need to be looked at.”

She said she wants to encourage students to get involved in the upcoming elections, and especially to vote, since students are the ones who suffer the most at the hands of those large budget cuts.

Greimann said she felt Wessel-Kroeschell had a lot of qualifications, but it is too early in the election season to endorse a specific candidate to fill her post.

Greimann said she encourages all people to talk to her about her experiences as a state representative.

“I’d be glad to give the experience [of what the job entails] to anyone,” Greimann said.

“I’d love to have people shadow me [at the Statehouse].”