(Radio Iowa) – A former Iowa Public Safety Commissioner announced he is running for the Democrat nomination in Iowa’s Second Congressional District. Kevin Techau is a sixth generation Iowan, and an Air Force veteran. Techau says he’s running for the seat now held by Republican Ashley Hinson in part because he believes the congresswoman has been a divisive presence.

“There’s just no reason we can’t work together for the benefit of Iowa, and right now, that’s not happening with Ashley Hinson. I’m dedicated to making Iowa safer and bringing economic opportunities back to Iowa,” he says. Hinson was reelected last year with nearly 60 percent of the vote. Techau says Hinson isn’t living up to her campaign promises. “Washington is full of broken promises, and Ashley Hinson is right at the front of that line. She ran the most recent campaign on economic issues, bringing prices down, fighting inflation, and she’s done nothing of the sort,” he says.

Hinson’s campaign released a statement saying that Techau is “a radical leftist who wants to return to (President) Biden’s open border agenda and push the woke policies that Iowans rejected in November.” The statement says Techau is out of touch with Iowa values and would be a rubber stamp for A-O-C’s squad of radicals in Congress. It also says Techau is a Hillary Clinton supporter, Barrack Obama appointee, and Joe Biden donor.