(Radio Iowa) – Former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, a Republican, will be speaking in Algona this weekend — about a Democrat who served in the Iowa House. Joshua Manske is one of the Kossuth County Democrats organizing the event in honor of the late Dolores Mertz of Ottosen.

“When we were talking about Dolores, we were like, you know, ‘Who would be somebody that could highlight the public service that she had done so well?’ As we thinking about it, we go, well, we know that (Mertz) and Governor Branstad…had a really good working relationship,” Manske says. Branstad was governor during 16 of the 22 years Mertz served in the Iowa House and he has often called Mertz his favorite Democrat. There is no charge to attend Saturday’s event at the Performing Arts Center in Algona, but donations will be accepted for the scholarship fund that’s been established in Mertz’s name.

“I called up the governor and he said: ‘Absolutely would love to do an event,'” Manske said. “Just seemed like it made sense.” Manske and another host will be on stage with Branstad Saturday afternoon, asking Branstad questions and there will be a selfie line afterward for people who want a photo with the nation’s longest serving governor. Mertz died in the fall of 2022 at the age of 94. “(She) and Governor Branstad were really, really good friends so it’s kind of a way to bring a little nostalgia back between somebody who was a member of the Democratic Party and a person who is a member of the Republican Party and have an event to honor her and the friendship (Mertz) and Governor Branstad had,” Manske says.

Mertz served as secretary of the Kossuth County Democratic Party for 13 years. Her husband, Pete, died of a heart attack in 1983 and she was appointed to serve the remainder of his term on the Kossuth County Board of Supervisors. She was elected to the Iowa House in 1988 and did not seek reelection in 2010. Branstad, who is 78, recently retired from his role as president of the Des Moines-based World Food Prize. In May of 2017, Branstad resigned as governor to become U-S Ambassador to China, where he served for just over three years.