Congressional campaigns are in full swing now. With the upcoming June primary, voters will have a chance to vote for the Democrat of their choice to compete against Republican Joni Ernst for the U.S. Senate seat. Of the five candidates running on the Democratic ticket, only one has the depth of experience, the knowledge and the grit to take on Ernst.
Meet Mike Franken (Retired Three Star Admiral), age 63, who grew up an Iowa farm boy from Sioux Center in northwest Iowa. Mike went on to become an engineer and a physicist. He spent most of his career in the Navy (36 years) where he served around the world as well as in Washington. He knows the military well. He knows Washington well and he knows agriculture well. All of this became clear as we (military families and friends) met with Mike recently in Newton to learn more about his vision for running for the Senate. First, Mike wants to bring even more focus to addressing the reasons for one in ten homeless people being a Vet.
He talked about the interrelationship between PTSD and mental health needs.He realizes Iowa has a real mental health crisis, with few hospital beds available and especially lean services in the rural areas. To make health care more accessible, he favors a public option on the Exchange for the ACA.
Next, for agriculture in Iowa, Mike sees great financial potential for both farmers and the renewable fuels industry in moving the renewable fuels sources from more costly crops like corn to cheaper crops like hemp and other grasses. The third part of Mike’s vision for running to be our Senator is to restore integrity and ethics in representing Iowa. He believes this includes having the grit to stand up to the current administration and say “no,” especially for unnecessary and costly wars. This is the savvy and experience that Mike Franken brings as a candidate and that we need representing us as our Senator in Washington.
Richard E. Floss
Baxter