Hart says voices in rural Iowa matter, should be heard more

Although their political ideals may have differed, Democrat Rita Hart said she learned an important lesson from her conservative leaning mother, who could only speak in a whisper after a heart sickness affected her early in life.

As a candidate for Iowa’s second congressional district and the former running mate to Iowa governor hopeful Fred Hubbell, Hart learned that sometimes the loudest voice in the room “is not the wisest voice” and that maybe she should lean in and listen to the person that’s struggling to be heard.

“Because they’re the most important voice,” Hart said Friday during a campaign stop in Newton. “They’re the wisest voice, they’re the one that needs to be listened to the most because they can benefit you the most if you just take the time and the energy to listen to what they have to say.”

She continued, “That’s what we’re missing in Washington, D.C. right now. We are not listening to the voices that matter. The loudest voices — the ones that have the most power, the ones that have the most money — are not the ones that we ought to be listening to. We ought to be listening to people like you.”

Like the people that are living in rural Iowa and are in need of resources such as high-speed internet, affordable housing and accessible health care in order to stay in small town communities and continue being successful, Hart remarked. She also said that Congress and politicians should be listening to veterans, the disabled and the “everybody knows that climate change is real.”

Hart said, “I’m here because I care enough to do something about it. It’s time to send somebody with ‘heart’ to go to Congress.”

Announcing her bid for Congress in May this year, the former Iowa State Senator of the 49th district is vying for the spot currently held by U.S. Congressman Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, who announced his retirement from the seat in April.

Continuing to serve out his term until 2020, Loebsack has since endorsed Hart’s campaign, according to the Iowa City Press-Citizen’s Zachary Oren Smith. Fellow Democrats Cindy Axne, Abby Finkenauer and Rob Sand have also followed suit.

Meeting with Jasper County Democrats this past Friday in rural Newton, Hart was asked what would be the first thing she would do if she were elected. The Wheatland Democrat said she would take the same attitude going into Congress as she did going into the classroom and into the Iowa State Senate. Stopping the division Congress, she added, is also crucial “to our future as a country.”

“You gotta get in there and, again, listen (and) understand what the lay of the land, find people that you can work with that think the same way you do,” Hart said. “They don’t have to be in the same party as you, but they have to be willing to work and be interested and care enough about the issues that need action.”

Hart later told the Newton Daily News if she were elected she would work with fellow out-of-state congresspersons to address issues that affect both Iowa and other parts of the country. The “obvious” person that came to mind, she said, is Rep. Cheri Bustos of Illinois.

“She’s right across the river and she’s got a very similar district, I think, to ours,” Hart said. “So her priorities are going to be very similar. And she’s been there awhile. She can show me the ropes a little bit. Of course I’m going to want to work with Abby (Finkenauer) and Cindy (Axne) to do the things that are going to make a difference here to Iowa.”

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com