Democrat Sara Ramsey, from Corning, was at the Cass County Fair, Monday, talking with voters about her bid for Iowa Senate District 11, which encompasses Adams, Pottawattamie and Union Counties, as well as most of Cass County. Republican Senator Tom Shipley, of Nodaway, has served as the District 11 since he was elected in 2014. He’s running for re-election in November. Ramsey’s bio says she’s running “As an alternative for those who are unsatisfied with the Iowa Republican Party’s performance.” She currently works as a psychiatric technician in Douglas County, Nebraska. She said she decided to enter the race for District 11 because she disagrees with Shipley on the several issues and some of the actions he’s backed in the Senate.

Sara Ramsey, candidate for IA Senate D-11

She says in her visits with district constituents, she’s heard their concerns on issues ranging from poverty to mental health care and healthcare in general. Being a psychiatric technician, Ramsey says mental health care has been affected by decisions made in the Iowa legislature, especially with regard to the closing of two out of four mental health institutions in Iowa. “When they closed down [the] Clarinda and Mt. Pleasant [mental health institutes] for financial reasons, they also took away 80 jobs…then they gave tax cuts to Apple to create 500 something temporary jobs and maybe 50 long-term jobs in a suburb of Des Moines. Policies like that are impacting [rural Iowa], areas that need services desperately, like mental health beds.”

Ramsey says if they were brought back, those services would bring in licensed professionals to staff the institutes and hospitals, creating good paying jobs. Other issues she supports include raising the minimum wage, ensuring consumer protections, protecting reproductive rights, supporting LGBTQ issues, and enforcing environmental protection. She says the rural area needs to make its voice heard by electing leaders who listen to their concerns and act upon them, and she believes she can be that voice in Iowa Senate District 11.