A member of the Boone City Council for more than 13 years is challenging Kim Reynolds in the 2018 Republican Primary for governor. Forty-six-year-old Steven Ray has worked in Iowa law enforcement since he was 17. Ray put himself through college working as a dispatcher for the Boone County Sheriff and he currently oversees Iowa State Patrol communications centers in Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids and Des Moines. Ray’s grandfather was the long-time sheriff of Story County.

Ray has been a state employee since 1995. Ray says he would have vetoed the bill former Republican Governor Terry Branstad approved in February that drastically reduced collective bargaining rights for government workers. Ray’s private email address uses the moniker POTUS 2024, a reference to the presidential campaign that starts in about seven years.

Ray filed the paperwork last week and he’s an official candidate for governor. Ray is planning to hold a rally in Boone in late August to formally kick off his campaign. Ray is joining Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett in challenging Governor Kim Reynolds’ bid for a four-year term as governor.

(Radio Iowa)