Letter:
October 30, 2018
Dear Iowa State Students and Faculty,
First off, thanks to the Iowa State Daily for allowing us to introduce ourselves as the only Independent team on the ballot for Iowa Governor.
My name is Gary Siegwarth and I want to be your next governor. For the past 26 years, I’ve been a Natural Resource Biologist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and have managed Big Spring Trout Hatchery near Elkader since 1999. I’m an Iowa State graduate, with a Master’s Degree from the University of Arkansas.
I grew up on a farm on the outskirts of Dubuque in northeast Iowa. Before we moved there, the farm was owned and operated by my grandparents. At that time, it was one of the largest dairy farms in Dubuque County. They milked 25 cows by hand, which is why they had 10 kids in those days. My father, Norm Siegwarth operated Ace Radio & TV in downtown Dubuque for 30 years before we moved to a farm near Zwingle in Jackson County.
My running-mate, Natalia Blaskovich, is an equally passionate voice for both natural resources and Iowa families. She grew up on a farm in western Iowa. Talia earned a degree in Political Science and Government from the University of Iowa prior to attending the University of Iowa College of Law. She is currently an Attorney and partner at Reynolds & Kenline in Dubuque. Talia is one of those rare people who can light up a room the minute she walks in.
There has never been an Independent Governor in the history of Iowa. There’s also never been a Natural Resource Biologist on the ballot! We have a different perspective and some creative ideas you likely haven’t been hearing about from the other candidates. Those ideas stem from a passion and knowledge of our land, water, and natural resources. Our perspectives also come from listening to people like you.
You won’t see us on any paid TV commercials and you won’t get a mailbox full of cardboard. What you see is what you get, an honest, down to earth team with a BIG VISION for Iowa.
As Independent candidates, we’ve experienced first-hand why most Iowa voters have lost their voice at the capitol. Whether its big money control, political party divisions, political party bias, purposeful media bias, paid lobbyists, or the political process itself, these things take away both your voice and your choice. They also take away a common sense voice for doing what’s best for the land and water of Iowa. We need to reduce the influence of those greed-driven factors in order to truly make our state a better place to live, experience, and raise a family.
There are so many important issues like healthcare, decent paying jobs, education, affordable college tuition (reducing both the costs and introducing creative post-high school CCC type programs that could help fund students), rights & freedoms, taxes, rural and agricultural economics, luring young people back to our rural communities, and better protecting our natural resources. To achieve the best solutions, we need to get money and political divisiveness out of the way first. To make the best decisions we need to work together. We are the best team who can do that because we’re not in a political party and haven’t taken money from a single special interest or political action group. We made it to the “Final Four” in the race for Governor, and haven’t spent millions to get there. We are the “small town hardware store” kind of team.
Our top four issues are: 1). Overcoming divisiveness between political parties, 2). Breaking the big money and special interest control of our political system, 3). Putting Iowa’s natural resources onto an even playing field with the other issues, and 4). Giving “an efficiency tune-up” to our legislative process
Your time is valuable, so please visit garyforgov.org, clearwaterparty.com, or my “Gary Siegwarth for IA Governor” Facebook page at your convenience. I like the Facebook approach because I personally make every post and comment, which gives you have a direct and interactive voice 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
