Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Democrat Friedrichsen announces in House 18

Democrat Friedrichsen announces in House 18

Jason Schultz will get his first-ever Democratic opponent next year: "Denison native Kasey Friedrichsen announced today that she will run for state representative in District 18, which includes Shelby County and parts of Crawford and Harrison Counties."

Friedrichsen offers a symbolically powerful argument against Team Branstad 5.0:
Friedrichsen, 24, worked at an the Denison unemployment office until last month when the office was one of 36 that closed after Gov. Terry Branstad vetoed a legislative allocation to keep the offices open.

Schultz, R-Schleswig, voted for a budget to keep the unemployment office but later declined to challenge the governor’s veto.

Friedrichsen also has a background dating back to high-school on anti-smoking issues (frankly, not my favorite "progressive" cause).

Schultz won his first term as the more conservative contender in a contested 2008 primary, after incumbent Clarence Hoffman was persuaded to retire by Iowans For Tax Relief. Democrats didn't run that cycle or in 2010, so this will be his first general election test. The new turf has a GOP registration edge of about 1300, which is chaallenging but not insurmountable.

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