July 11, 2025

What values do the candidate really hold?

There have been a few letters published here from people supporting the Republican candidate Jon Dunwell and they all contain the same recurring theme, that Dunwell represents the values of Jasper County and Wes Breckinridge does not. So just exactly what are the Republican “values” these letter-writers are referring to? What are these “values” Dunwell and other Republicans think represent Jasper County?

Do these “values” include perpetual lying, vicious personal attacks, bullying and childish name-calling, treating sexual abuse of woman as a joke, misogyny, embracing racist white- supremacist groups, repeating outrageous conspiracy theories from fringe fanatic groups, refusal to listen to doctors and scientists, mocking war veterans and families of fallen soldiers, mocking disabled Americans, taking away the rights of anyone who is “different” from others, taking away healthcare from those who could otherwise not afford it, taking control over women’s bodies as if they were objects to be manipulated by men, giving more tax breaks to the wealthiest while cutting social safety nets for those who need them, locking children in cages to never see their parents again, refusal to listen and take the advice of doctors and scientists, spreading lies about and downplaying the deadliest pandemic the world had seen in over a century which enabled a deadly virus to spread rampant across the country, fear-mongering and inciting hatred at public gatherings, embracing and “falling in love” with totalitarian dictators while insulting and distancing ourselves from our decades-long allies, cheating and refusing to pay those who have done honest work, avoiding paying taxes to this country while paying taxes to a foreign adversary? Are those the “values” that Jon Dunwell and these letter-writers hold so dear?

Those “values” may be Dunwell’s and Jasper County Republicans’ “values,” but they are not my values nor are they the values of Wes Breckinridge and I refuse to believe these are the values of the majority of the good people of Jasper County. Vote Blue Nov. 3 if you want to see respectful and honest values restored to Newton, to Jasper County, to the state of Iowa and to the United States of America.

John Moore

Newton