Have you heard of these two guys — Lightfoot and … ah … Vilsack? Yeah, those are their names. They are the two candidates running in this year’s race for governor. This isn’t just any race. For the first time in 15 years, Iowa will be electing a new governor.

Very few Iowans have been paying much attention to this year’s gubernatorial race, and I bet many Iowa State students haven’t been, either. It’s important for us to learn about these guys. Not only because of the importance of the office, but with the increase in independent voters in Iowa, this race goes beyond Democrats vs. Republicans. In this year’s race for governor, let the best man win.

In light of this big election, I am putting together a three-part series on the governor’s race. The first two parts of the series will cover the candidates as individuals, and the third will be a comparison.

Jim Ross Lightfoot and Tom Vilsack are two very different men with a similar vision of a better future for Iowa. The difference between them lies with their plans for progress, their positions on the issues, and most importantly, their voting records.

In no particular order, I will begin the series with Tom Vilsack.

According to his Web site (www.vilsack.com), Tom Vilsack is not a native Iowan. He was placed in a Catholic orphanage as a child and was adopted by Bud and Dolly Vilsack. After graduation from Hamilton College of Clinton, New York with a degree in history in 1972, he went on to Union University in Albany, New York to receive his Juris Doctorate in 1975.

While in Albany he met Christie Bell. They married and moved back to her hometown of Mt. Pleasant. They are the parents of two sons, ages 20 and 17.

Vilsack has practiced law with his father-in-law and brother-in-law since 1975. In 1987, he was elected mayor of Mt. Pleasant. Happy in Mt. Pleasant, yet wanting to do more for the state, Vilsack was elected to the Iowa State Senate in 1992.

As a state senator, he led the fight in Iowa to increase access to community colleges, provide college scholarships, repair crumbling schools, reduce class sizes and fund our public school system.

As the husband of a school teacher and father of two sons educated in public schools, Vilsack has consistently fought for public education. That is why he received the near-unanimous endorsement of the Iowa State Education Association over his opponent, Jim Lightfoot.

Vilsack has proposed using a small portion of the state’s surplus to reduce class sizes in the early grades. Studies have shown that smaller classes result in better learning. Children between kindergarten and third grade would have no more than 17 students in their class under Vilsack’s proposal.

In an effort to ensure safety in our schools, Vilsack has offered a three-point program which consists of installing a juvenile officer in every middle school to work with disruptive students; a strike force to target methamphetamines in schools; and the revocation of driver’s licenses for students who assault teachers or bring weapons to school.

For college students, Vilsack has proposed a two-year freeze on tuition for the state’s community colleges.

Currently, Iowa’s community colleges are ranked the 15th most expensive in the nation.

“No qualified Iowan should be denied access to an Iowa community college, state university or independent college because their families don’t make enough money,” Vilsack said earlier this month.

Vilsack supports the Family and Medical Leave Act. This allows Iowans to take a leave of absence to care for sick family members and childbirths. He also promises to ensure that every Iowa child has access to health care.

While in the Senate, Vilsack voted for legislation to reduce teen smoking by prohibiting the sale of cigarettes or tobacco products at certain vending machine locations and by allowing a city or county to require that all sales of tobacco products be made face to face.

Vilsack has refused all campaign contributions from the National Rifle Association and would enforce the federal assault weapons ban if elected governor.

Vilsack is the candidate being endorsed by the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club for his consistently strong environmental record.

As governor, Vilsack will support provisions of the Clean Air Act and work with Congress toward a reformulated fuel program promoting ethanol use in polluted cities. He also supports a comprehensive groundwater and surface water monitoring system to ensure the safety and purity of Iowa’s water.

Along with the water monitoring system, Vilsack supports other steps to be taken on the confinement of hoglots. He supports giving local authorities some control over the siting of these facilities and shutting down operations that consistently break environmental regulations.

This is a key issue in this year’s debate. Just last month there was an article in the Des Moines Register stating that 57 fish were found dead, floating in a river near Dubuque. They died because of runoff from a nearby hoglot.

In 1997 and 1998, Vilsack voted to increase funding for the Resources Enhancement and Protection (REAP) Program. He supports full-funding for REAP, the protection of Blufflands along the Mississippi and Missouri River and designating Loess Hills as a national park.

Vilsack promises to fight efforts to slash the budget for the Superfund toxic waste cleanup and will enforce the provisions of the Superfund legislation in Iowa. For those of you who don’t know, Superfund sites are those toxic waste dumps that are considered the most dangerous. Here in Iowa, there are 18.

Vilsack offers a reasonable tax relief program for Iowans that would provide at least $120 million in property tax relief and simplify Iowa’s complicated income tax system. There is a $45 million hidden tax that we pay each year just to have our taxes processed! Vilsack wants to eliminate this.

As a senator in 1995, he voted for and floor managed the largest property tax relief package in Iowa’s history ($95 million). In 1996, he also voted for a major tax cut that included an increase in the exemption of inheritance taxes, elderly and disabled tax credits and capital gains tax credits.

Vilsack voted for a business tax cut bill that exempts certain computers, machinery and other equipment from the sales and use tax. He also voted for a middle class tax cut bill that reduced taxes by 15 percent to all taxpayers below the $75,000 mark.

So he’s not a native Iowan. So he doesn’t have the kind of money for a campaign that Lightfoot does. However, Tom Vilsack has a great record on all of the issues.

I’m not saying he’s the one I’m voting for; I won’t reveal that until the last part of the series. I’m just asking you to look at the facts, look at his record and what he stands for.

In my next column, look at Lightfoot’s profile, and then at the comparison.

Even though this is the opinion page, when dealing with this race I won’t push my views too hard. The purpose is to let you to make educated decisions when voting this November.

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Sarah Leonard is a senior in journalism and mass communication and political science from Lawler.