Meet the Candidates: Iowa Senate District 32
The incumbent for Iowa Senate District 32, Republican Mike Klimesh, is seeking his second term. Democrat Brian Bruening is challenging Klimesh in the Nov. 5 general election. The candidates recently shared their thoughts about key issues with Times-Register reporter Willis Patenaude. Visit elections.claytoncountyia.gov/ for more information.
Brian Bruening
Brian Bruening was raised on a working cattle, hog and grain farm outside New Hampton. He attended public school, where he served as editor of the high school newspaper his senior year. He then went to college and worked in Boston for 12 years before returning to Iowa in 2006 to start Schera’s Algerian-American Restaurant with his partner Frédéric. Bruening received a BA in English from Boston University and a MFA in poetry from Emerson College. He has served on the board of the Elkader Area Chamber of Commerce and is a major sponsor of Elkader’s annual Art in the Park weekend. Bruening has been chair of the Clayton County Democrats since 2016. He’s married to his partner of 23 years, Frédéric Boudouani, and they live in Elkader.
Why are you running for State Senate District 32?
There are several factors that prompted my decision to run. I have seen a lot of changes in Iowa over the last 18 years, and most of them aren’t for the better. Our surface water has turned into the most polluted in the country, we now have the second highest cancer incidence rate in the nation and so many fundamental protections that existed when I was growing up such as workers union rights, reproductive and maternal healthcare access and a first in the nation public education have all been eroded or stripped away by total Republican control of our government. We can’t afford to continue with the status quo of a senator that rubber stamps every one of the governor’s proposals created by highly paid (with taxpayer dollars) out-of-state consultants. The Driftless Area needs someone with a strong, caring voice to fight for them, and I want to be that person.
What three issues are the most important to your campaign and why?
I’ve identified four major needs for our district: 1) recommitting to public education and funding, 2) ensuring safe housing and food security for children, 3) improving access to rural hospitals and nursing homes and 4) repairing contaminated water sources.
We need to repeal recent damaging policies like the AEA gutting and private school vouchers that have drained resources from small rural schools. This has already further stressed school budgets and overall quality of education, limiting essential services like testing for students with hearing issues.
There’s a pressing need for safe, affordable housing across the state. Business owners struggle to hire due to housing shortages, while many families live in unsafe conditions. Investing in multifamily housing will help address hiring challenges and homelessness. We also need to boost support for food banks and other food programs such as SNAP and free school lunches, as over 150 families in Clayton County alone rely on our food shelf weekly.
The failed Medicaid privatization must end, as it leads to higher costs and lower care while allowing out-of-state contractors to pad their profits. Maternal and OBGYN care deserts have sprung up around the state and it will take a concerted effort on all levels of government to improve access.
We must address the overwhelming influence of Big Ag on our environmental regulations. Iowa’s lax approach to nitrate and manure runoff has resulted in poor water quality and polluted streams and rivers. We need to empower local governments and adequately fund regulatory agencies to enforce existing laws and hold violators accountable. We must ensure all parties adhere to established rules to protect our health and environment. What have Republicans done? Made it harder to sue chemical companies that knowingly mislead farmers on the cancer-causing effects of their products.
This isn’t an attack on farmers; agriculture is vital to our state. However, we’ve allowed too much control of the industry by Big Ag companies who control inputs such as seeds and fertilizer, and the output markets such as packing plants and crop markets. Farmers in this district need a representative to fight for them, not the big players who control the industry.
What issues facing District 32 specifically are you focused on and why?
Supporting public education and childcare, cleaning up our polluted water, providing safe and affordable housing and access to reproductive care and healthcare are the key issues of this campaign because they all affect the viability of small rural towns.
In what ways is your campaign focused on rural sustainability within District 32, specifically in boosting rural populations and enrollment in rural schools?
Housing, education, childcare, healthcare, infrastructure investments and small business support: these are all pieces in the puzzle of reversing rural decline. We need a concerted effort to invest in all of these areas in order to make living in a rural area viable for young families. Public/private partnerships are a good way forward, but the idea that private investment will somehow fix these issues has been proven completely false. We need government buy-in and investment to make sure all communities in Iowa get the support they need to be successful.
What is your position on recent legislation, including the school choice bill, the AEA Bill and traffic camera restrictions, as well as any other pieces of legislation you want to highlight that you view as having a positive/negative impact on Iowans?
School choice is a $500 million (and counting) payout to folks already rich enough to send their kids to private school. It hasn’t done much to improve the educational conditions of students in District 32.
Nobody asked for the AEA bill, and yet it went through. School districts in our area are already suffering as services are cut and well-regarded programs such as media share are facing huge cuts in funding as larger, richer school districts pull out.
Traffic camera restrictions are another piece of an ongoing raft of legislation to restrict county and city rights. Republicans often uphold the importance of local rights while chipping away at local control and giving all that power to the state. If a local community wants to restrict the sale of fireworks, they should have that right, but our legislators said no.
If elected, what goals do you want to accomplish during your term?
I will support a constitutional amendment to guarantee Iowans’ right to clean water and air, and give us a chance to fight for the health of our environment when government won’t. We also need more community engagement around the issues that get real feedback from people who live here and not just a recitation on how the legislature works in Des Moines.
What makes you the best choice for Iowans?
Eighteen years ago, I made the decision to move back to Iowa and make a life here because I saw something special about this state. The Iowa I grew up in was cleaner, safer and felt like a community. Under 12 plus years of complete Republican control of government, I’ve seen the quality of life in Iowa deteriorate. I am committed to making a Iowa a better place to live, a place where young people move back to raise their kids, a place that had the best public education in America, a place of community and good neighbors. I have fought hard to bring recognition to this area and drive tourist traffic here to experience this place I love. I have been fighting for District 32 since settling here and I will do the same in Des Moines.
Final comments?
Early voting is already underway. Voting is everyone’s civic duty, so go out and vote today!
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Mike Klimesh
Mike Klimesh was born and raised in Spillville, where he lives today with his wife Kate. The have one son, Benjamin, who graduated from South Winn High School and later Luther College. Klimesh has worked in the printing/publishing industry his entire adult life. In the early 1990s, he felt the calling to public service and joined the Spillville City Council, and went on to serve as mayor for several years. During that time, Klimesh navigated Spillville through multiple flood disasters and numerous public works projects. He ran for the Iowa senate in 2020 and is serving his first term. In the senate, Klimesh chairs the transportation and administrative rules review committees. He also serves on the commerce committee, local government and ways and means and is vice chair of the government oversight committee.
Why are you running for re-election for State Senate District 32?
I am running to continue working on the issues that are affecting everyday Iowans and their quality of life, and to ensure northeast Iowa is a great place to live, work and raise a family.
What three issues are the most important to your campaign and why?
Depopulation of rural Iowa, keeping our access to rural pharmacies and the services they provide and ensuring northeast Iowans have access to reliable, affordable sustainable energy. My platform is simple: I work hard every day to leave Iowa better than I found it.
What issues facing District 32 specifically are you focused on and why?
One of the top issues that I am focused on is energy. Everything requires energy, and the availability and cost of that energy drives our economy. It’s important that we work with those providing us with that energy and make sure we have policies in place to ensure we can meet the required new load growth and make sure that energy is affordable and reliable. Increased demand for energy has historically been flat, but the projections for the next several years show a significant change in that trend, with a 5 percent demand growth projected in 2025. As we build the assets needed to supply us with the increased demand in energy, we also need to make sure they are hooked into the grid.
In what ways is your campaign focused on rural sustainability within District 32, specifically in boosting rural populations and enrollment in rural schools?
Our continued focus on policies that ensure rural Iowa is a great place to work, raise a family and live is the best way we can reverse the trend of our declining rural population. There are several factors that all come into play when we talk about boosting rural Iowa. Taxes, childcare, affordable housing, energy, infrastructure, access to health care and pharmacies are all topics that impact rural Iowa as well as the rest of the state. In the last four years that I have been in the legislature, we have reduced our state’s income tax from one of the highest in the country to the sixth lowest, we have increased our starting teacher pay to the fifth highest in the country and have implemented several measures to reduce property taxes, all this while spending less than we collect and ensuring Iowans get to keep more and more of their paycheck.
What is your position on recent legislation that has passed, including the school choice bill, the AEA Bill, and traffic camera restrictions, as well as any other pieces of legislation you want to highlight that you view as having a positive/negative impact on Iowans?
I authored the traffic camera bill that is currently the law. The law strikes a balance between local control and local responsibility. It gives cities the ability to apply for a permit and, in that application, prove the camera is the best course of action to address a legitimate public safety concern. This bill passed both chambers with bi-partisan support.
In northeast Iowa, we have great schools and teachers who provide an amazing environment for our children to grow and learn. In areas of the state that don’t have the quality of education that we enjoy here, the education savings account gives parents the ability to make one of the most important decisions for their children: their educational future. It allows them to make this decision without having to worry about whether they can afford to make a change that can benefit their students and ensure they are placed on a path to success. The first school choice program started in the inner-city schools in Milwaukee, Wis., in 1990, and students who have taken advantage of this program have seen an 18 percent increase in their graduation rates when compared to students in the public school system.
I did not vote for the AEA bill. Urban schools, who typically have more students and a much higher taxable valuation base, view the services AEAs provide differently than that of our rural schools. I believe Keystone is the gold standard for how an AEA functions and the positive impact it has had on students in its service area is immeasurable. I think we could have had a conversation on administrative structure and the cost of that structure, on whether the urban schools’ needs were best being serviced by the AEAs, and we could have had these conversations without affecting the services our rural schools have come to rely on.
What accomplishments stand out during your recent term and, if re-elected, what goals do you want to accomplish during your next term?
A couple of the highlights of my first term in the senate are a couple of bills that I was able to get passed into law that, while not front-page news, still benefited my constituents and all Iowans. My first year I drafted and passed a bill that allowed counties to share assessors. Counties have been able to share other appointed or hired staff members, just not assessors. After serving on the conference committee at the county level as mayor, I was able to see that the number of assessors in the state was shrinking and the competitive pressure was increasing the cost to small counties. This bill allows counties to join through an agreement to share the position of assessor, or not. It’s up to them; local control with options.
The second piece of legislation I was proud to have worked on and got signed into law was the EMS (emergency medical service) essential service bill. It’s a way for counties and cities to provide additional funding options to respond to EMS deserts. Ambulance services wait times can be, and have been, the difference between life and death. The bill requires a public input in the creation of the districts and the level of services to be provided in those districts, and also allows them to vote on whether or not they will support the levy. Last November, voters in four Iowa counties went to the polls and supported EMS funding in their counties. The bill gives additional funding streams that can be explored outside of a property tax increase, such as an income tax surcharge. Once again, local control with options. I would also like to note that both of these bills passed with strong bi-partisan support.
What makes you the best candidate for Iowans?
I have lived my life by two simple rules: 1) Never ask someone to do something that you aren’t prepared to do yourself. 2) Always work every day to leave it better than you found it. Those rules are simple, but they are rules that resonate with rural Iowans. We don’t wait for a handout when we can do for ourselves and it’s that spirit that makes Iowa a great place to live, work and raise a family. I know how hard it is to run a small business and sign the front of a paycheck and I also know how important it is when you sign the back of that check that you have enough to provide a better life for the ones you love. That’s why it’s so important to follow those two simple rules, and leave Iowa a better place for future generations.
Final comments?
I have been proud to serve as your state senator and am humbly asking for your vote on Nov. 5 so I can continue to work every day to leave Iowa better than I found it.