Jones smells success along rural routes

Chris Jones says he is not measuring for drapes in the Iowa Secretary of Agriculture’s office at the state capitol just yet.

The Democratic challenger to Republican incumbent Mike Naig is, however, thinking seriously about assembling a staff of “high-profile people who want to affect change.”

“I think I am going to win,” Jones said last week. “People are pissed.”

That’s an assessment taken from packed rooms — Red Oak to Harlan to Greenfield to Denison to Kiron to Emmetsburg. All places gone deep red. Jones lives in Iowa City, that foreign territory of academics and liberals.

“I never speak to an empty chair. Sometimes the rooms are not very big, but they are full,” he said.

Jones reports that all the Democrats running for statewide office are in good stead based on their own polls that mirror each other. He said races for attorney general, secretary of state and state auditor along with secretary of agriculture all are competitive. He believes Democrat Rob Sand will beat Republican Zach Lahn, and says the Senate race is too close to call.

“This is going to be a new day for IDALS (Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship). We are going to be working for change,” Jones said.

Starting with pesticide drift. “We are going to end that.”

And then more issues to confront. Fall fertilizer. Ethanol. Confinements. Consolidation. Lack of crop diversity. The most polluted surface water in America. Cancer. Jones gets attention with his campaign for clean water. He says that politicians like to brag about how much money we have devoted to water quality.

“What do we have to show for it?”

The Raccoon River remains toxic. So does the Des Moines River. Both feed Des Moines drinking water systems. Iowa stands out among the states with its rising cancer rates. It has become a top issue, thanks to Jones howling among the cornfields. Howling got him run off as a state-employed water scientist. He decided that he needed to run for office to get something done.

Naig has been ag secretary since 2018. Before that, he was a lobbyist for Monsanto. Iowa hangs with incumbents — Chuck Grassley has held elected office since 1959. We also tend to stick with Republicans. Perhaps not on Nov. 3.

Sand is in a strong position to win as Lahn tries to explain away unpaid bills from his running mate Derek Wulf. The DC Republicans effectively ceded the First Congressional District race in Southeast Iowa when they reportedly cut off Rep. Marianette Miller-Meeks, who must be trailing Democrat Christina Bohannon. This after President Trump announced that a steel mill would plop down in Lee County in the district. The legislature rushed to approve $1.5 billion in the largest corporate giveaway in state history. Even after that, the GOP money machine decided to leave Miller-Meeks dangling. It must be bad out there.

Enough that Jones, without a ton of money, could upset a Republican incumbent. He also believes that there will be upsets in the legislature, which has been solid Republican for at least a decade.

“The big untold story is how many rural progressive Democrats are running,” Jones said. He sees “excellent” candidates who are making for competitive contests in conservative districts. Sen. Catelin Drey, D-Sioux City, who flipped a Trump district blue in January, thinks Democrats will pick up enough seats in the Senate to make a difference.

Will anything actually change?

Sand says he will not seek to increase the income tax, impossible anyhow with a Republican legislature. He does want to levy 3/8ths of a percent increase on the sales tax prescribed by voters when they amended the state constitution in 2010. That could raise $200 million for natural resources. But that sales tax revenue could get swallowed up with annual billion-dollar budget deficits from cutting income taxes. Natural resources may be no better off fiscally.

That’s why Jones is looking for high-profile change agents — to howl along with him and keep the pressure on for clean air and water.

The solid money is stacked with the status quo. More anhydrous ammonia is sold when you waste a third of it with fall application. Rivers may reek with phosphorous but the integrated pork companies have to get rid of the manure. You might get cancer from breathing the air, which is your cost of doing business in Iowa. If you are born in a pigsty, get comfortable.

Jones wants to make the capitol uncomfortable for the sake of a diverse agriculture and healthier rural communities.

He thinks he is very close. The crowd at beleaguered Centerville in southern Iowa was animated. He says the other people on his campaign are more confident than he is. There is talk of a blue wave, but how will crimson Northwest Iowa turn out? Trump is coming to help bail water. Some ships may have already sailed. Jones feels it after a year along the rural routes. “The outrage has arrived,” he swears.