March 18, 2024

O’Malley gets endorsement from county chair at UAW event

Democratic presidential hopeful focused on trade at round-table

An appearance in Newton by a Democratic presidential hopeful Friday led to a somewhat surprising announcement.

During the waning moments of the round-table discussion involving Democratic presidential candidate and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley at the UAW Local 997 union hall, Jasper County Democrat Central Committee Chair Taylor Van De Krol stood up when prompted by O’Malley. He then spoke for a few moments about why he’s endorsing O’Malley for president and presented the candidate with 20 caucus-commitment cards and check for $24.

“It’s for my 24th birthday,” Van De Krol, a Lynnville native, said.

The moment came at the end of a productive, low-key discussion that focused mainly on international trade. The discussion panel, selected by O’Malley’s campaign staff with some local input, was comprised of State Sen. Chaz Allen, Jasper County Treasurer Doug Bishop, former UAW International representative Max Tipton and current UAW 997 Vice President Stephanie McCumber.

It was O’Malley’s third appearance in Jasper County this year, having been to Uncle Nancy’s Eatery and Coffee House for a town-hall meeting in July and an event at the Newton Public Library in August.

Van De Krol told O’Malley it was important for him to take his time before selecting a candidate, and after hearing O’Malley, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton speak during their recent stops in Newton, and after some careful study, he decided to support O’Malley.

“I think you have great grounding, and you’re a young candidate with great organizers,” Van De Krol told the former Maryland governor.

O’Malley seemed to recognize some Central Iowa supporters, volunteers and staff by sight. He acknowledged State Rep. Dan Kelley, who recently announced his endorsement of O’Malley.

Much of the discussion centered around issues that affected Maytag, its former employers and the Jasper County workforce. Allen, the Newton mayor from 2004 to 2012, said the Newton area has replaced the 1,700 jobs lost from Maytag’s closure, but it has replaced $19-to-$20 per hour jobs with ones that pay around $14 or $15 per hour.

Allen said the economic impact of losing Maytag is around $7.2 million annually.

Bishop said there are young people in the workforce now who are among a generation not to have the opportunities of its predecessors. He also mentioned veterans who are in a gap because of sign-up dates.

Tipton made more than one mention of how the U.S. “always seems to get the dirty end of the stick in international trade deals.” O’Malley has publicly denounced the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The loudest applause O’Malley seemed to draw was when he mentioned one of the regularly stated key points of his campaign: “I believe that economy isn’t money; our economy is people.”

Van De Krol said after the meeting that having Allen and Bishop on a panel at an O’Malley event didn’t seem odd to him, even though both have publicly declared their support of “Draft Biden Iowa,” as Vice President Joe Biden is not a declared candidate.

“I was contacted about the panel, and I gave a few suggestions,” Van De Krol said.

The county central committee chair said his endorsement of O’Malley is a personal one, but as chair, he will continue to help further the goals and aims of other candidates and of the Democratic Party.

The Lynnville-Sully High School and Simpson College graduate said knocking on doors and making calls for a candidate is nothing new for him. He works full-time for State Sen. Matt McCoy.

After Tuesday’s televised presidential debate, which O’Malley mentioned several times as a means of getting down to real issues, the next major turning point in the caucus season could be when Biden makes some type of announcement.

“That’s something I’ve run into in making phone calls for O’Malley in the past few days,” Van De Krol said. “A lot of folks mention Biden when discussing who to vote for.”

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com