Democrat Senate candidate for Iowa House District 20, Warren Varley, of Stuart was at the Cass County Fair, Saturday. Varley, a local farmer and attorney who ran unopposed in the June Primary Election, will face a challenge from Greenfield Republican candidate Ray “Bubba” Sorensen II in the November 6th General Election. Sorensen defeated Dodge Perrigo in Republican primary election. Both men hope to succeed retiring District 20 Representative Clel Baudler. District 20 covers Adair, Guthrie, the northeast part of Cass and a section of Dallas Counties.

Warren Varley

Varley has over 25 years of experience as a main street businessperson in Stuart and has served as president of Midwest Partnership and Stuart Enterprise for Economic Development. He says he’s concerned with the direction the Iowa Legislature is taking the state in, with regard to economic development, and especially public education. He says it’s crucial to the future of our children, and as an economic development tool. A more pro-active approach to public education, he says, is to get students who aren’t interested in a four-year college education, engaged in becoming skilled workers in the trades industry.

He says there is a shortage of worker housing in the state, and there needs to be an investment in the infrastructure to make workers available and attract jobs. He says Iowa is losing businesses because they want to expand, but don’t have the workforce to do so, and therefore are unable to do so. Varley says he wants to focus the legislature’s attention to developing rural Iowa, because the population shift to the urban areas means they have the power to change rules, and rural areas need to “Punch above our weight,” and have a strong advocate in the State Legislature.

He says there is too much extremism on both the State and Federal level, and not enough decision making down the middle of issues. Varley says he wants to go back to the time when Iowa was more like when his dad was in the legislature, and Bob Ray was Governor, when there was a lot more working across party lines, cooperation and moderation. He says “I think I represent that.”

His father, Andrew Varley served as a Republican legislator for 12-years.

IA House District 20