Political Soapbox: Who's Speaking At The Iowa State Fair

Political candidates are scheduled to visit the Iowa State Fair. (Photo by Kathie Obradovich/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Candidates running in this year’s midterm elections will have the chance to speak directly with Iowans at the Iowa State Fair over the next 11 days.

The Des Moines Register Political Soapbox is a state fair mainstay. It’s known best as a stop for presidential candidates in the leadup to the Iowa caucuses, though none are on the schedule this year. Instead, fairgoers have the chance to hear from candidates running for Iowa’s statewide and national offices.

Two of the contenders for this year’s most competitive races will not speak at the soapbox. Neither Republican incumbent Gov. Kim Reynolds or U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley have a soapbox speech planned during their state fair visits. While there are a few Republican speakers scheduled, including U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne’s challenger state Sen. Zach Nunn, the majority of candidates speaking are Democrats.

Candidates are given 20 minutes on the soapbox stage to make their case. Speakers can give their campaign pitch and answer questions directly from fairgoers during their time on the stage.

Watch this spot for updates on what speakers said during their soapbox appearances:

Iowa needs to more urgently address contaminated waterways, soil erosion and rural population decline to ensure the long-term sustainability of its agriculture, the Democratic challenger for state Secretary of Agriculture told state fairgoers on Thursday.

John Norwood, 58, of West Des Moines, addressed a handful of people at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox — along with dozens of people who walked past — on the first day of the Iowa State Fair.

Norwood is challenging incumbent Mike Naig, a Republican, who is not participating in the soapbox.

“What I’m bringing to the position is the idea of representing all Iowans,” Norwood said. “We have to understand and represent our farming producers, but we also need to focus on the consumer side as well.”

That means pursuing a more-aggressive and coordinated strategy to keep farm fertilizer from going into the state’s waterways. State officials have long opted for a hands-off approach that relies on individual farmers to implement conservation practices, often with the support of state programs.

Naig contends the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy is working and touts the adoption of cover crops, which he said have been planted on more than 3 million acres of cropland. Cover crops are effective at reducing soil erosion and nitrate leaching, but those acres only represent about 13% of Iowa’s total cropland.

Norwood said research suggests that the amount of nitrate flowing into the Mississippi River and contributing to the Gulf of Mexico dead zone has increased since the state strategy was adopted in 2013.

“I would submit that’s good evidence that the solutions right now are not working,” Norwood said Thursday.

He cautioned that not enough is being done to control soil erosion that is outpacing new topsoil production. Norwood has said there are up to 2 million acres of land that are being farmed and are highly erodible and should be taken out of production.

Farmers also need to diversify their crops to include oats, barley and rye, he said. All of the ideas are meant to create a “highly productive but balanced system,” he said.

“I have a sense of urgency,” Norwood said. “I have focus that I’m going to bring to this position.”

Iowa State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald was first up at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox Thursday, calling for Iowans to re-elect him to an 11th term.

The Democratic incumbent told Iowa State Fair attendees he wants to do more for aging Iowans as he seeks another term in the office he’s held since 1983.

He plans to continue to push the state toward setting aside funds to help older Iowans. He called for Iowa to establish a state retirement program for people without retirement plans through their employer, and said he wants to protect state pension funds.

“With half the people in Iowa approaching retirement age with no pension or retirement benefits, I think it’s a serious problem,” Fitzgerald said.

The treasurer faces state Sen. Roby Smith, a Republican, in the general election. While he’s won many re-election many times before, there’s more money involved in this year’s treasurer race than in previous years. Smith surpassed Fitzgerald in fundraising efforts with $286,400 in the bank according to July campaign finance reports. Fitzgerald reported $74,000 cash on hand.

Smith is not scheduled to speak at the soapbox. All candidates for Iowa’s statewide and federal races were invited to give a speech.

If re-elected, Fitzgerald said his goals include returning federally held matured savings bonds to Iowa, in addition to continuing work on the programs built during his tenure as the longest-serving treasurer of state in the nation. He created the 529 College Saving Programs, which invests and distributes money to families for post-secondary education free of state and federal taxes.

Fitzgerald also encouraged fairgoers to visit the Treasurer of State’s booth in the Varied Industries Building, where they have the chance to claim lost money. The office hosts the “Great Iowa Treasure Hunt” each year at the fair. Visitors can look up their own names as well as family and friends to see if they have unclaimed money waiting.

There are 16 candidates scheduled to speak at the political soapbox this year, according to The Des Moines Register:

Politics hold a special place at the Iowa State Fair. While politicians visit other fairs across the country as they run for state and federal office, Iowa’s place holding the first-in-the-nation caucuses during presidential election cycles elevates the event as an important campaign visit.

Speaking at the soapbox is one of many traditional stops around the state fair, alongside flipping pork chops at the Iowa Pork Producers tent and visiting the butter cow in the agriculture building. In 2019, 23 presidential candidates spoke at the Soapbox in the lead-up to the 2020 election. In 2015, 19 candidates spoke.

Armed with a microphone and surrounded by bales of straw, candidates have a chance to talk to a different crowd than the people who show up for official campaign events. Candidates can reach new supporters, but critics and hecklers can also reach the candidates.

The soapbox was where then-presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney infamously said “corporations are people, my friend,” when he got into a shouting match with a critic in 2011. It’s also where protesters tried to drown out former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to stop him from making his presidential pitch.

But it’s also where candidates can shine. Former President Donald Trump stole the show in 2015 after he arrived to the Iowa State Fair by helicopter, flying above the state fairgrounds in low-riding circles when he offered families rides on the private aircraft. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’s soapbox stop that year revealed his popularity, as over a thousand gathered to listen to him speak.

Candidates for Iowa’s state and federal offices have the chance to appeal to those same potential voters.

Though they won’t be on stage, some politicians flirting with a 2024 run are visiting the fair. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan stopped by the fair Thursday. Former Vice President Mike Pence is planning a fairground visit with U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley.

Stay up to date with caucus visits here.

by Robin Opsahl, Iowa Capital Dispatch August 11, 2022