Meet the Candidates Running for Iowa House District 28

Two candidates are running for Iowa House District 28, which represents areas of Dallas County including southwest West Des Moines, Adel and Van Meter.

Republican incumbent David Young faces a challenge from Democrat Laura Snider.

The Des Moines Register asked each candidate to answer questions about why they are running and the issues facing their district. Their answers may be lightly edited for clarity or length.

Who is David Young (incumbent)?

Age: 56

Party: Republican

Where did you grow up: Van Meter and Johnston

Current city of residence: Van meter

Education: Bachelor of Arts in English — Drake University — 1991

Occupation: Iowa State Representative and Practitioner-in-Residence at Drake University’s Institute for Public Democracy

Political experience and civic activities: United States Representative — Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District (2015–2019); Iowa State Representative — 28th Congressional District (2023–2025)

Who is Laura Snider?

Age: 39

Party: Democrat

Where did you grow up: Topeka, Kansas

Current city of residence: West Des Moines

Education: I received my Bachelor of Arts and Science degree from Washburn University in 2006 and moved to Iowa to attend law school. I graduated from Drake University School of Law in 2009.

Occupation: Prosecutor

Political experience and civic activities: I have never been involved in politics before.

What would be your main issue if you were elected?

Young: More work needs to be done on property tax relief and transparency in the use of property taxes. Iowans are rightly concerned about the exponential increase and unpredictability of their property tax bill. Additionally, after passing legislation to increase starting teacher pay and increase paraprofessional pay, we need to continue to work on teacher compensation by allocating additional funding to help address tax compaction issues, as well as increasing salaries for experienced teachers who are doing great work for our students.

Snider: Freedom of reproduction.

What policies would you support to improve Iowa’s education system?

Young: Raising veteran teacher salaries is a priority that deserves attention and resolution. All teachers must be provided with the tools they need to manage disruptive students and protect themselves from violent students. The teachers I speak with speak of the increase in behavior problems they are seeing in the classroom. Additionally, continued efforts to ensure that schools focus on teaching the fundamentals—math, science, reading, history, and logic—are critical to ensuring that students have the tools they need to succeed in the future.

Snider: We need to fully fund our schools, eliminate vouchers so public funds stay in public schools, and increase teacher salaries. It is important that we start listening to our educators, administrators, and school staff so we can provide them with the things they need to support our children.

What do you think Iowa’s tax policy should be? Do you think the state’s priority should be to cut taxes or to spend money on services for Iowans?

Young: I supported a flat 3.8% income tax for all Iowans while ensuring that retirement income is not taxed in Iowa. We developed responsible budgeting principles that allow us to balance our budgets while keeping taxes low and investing record amounts in education, mental health, public safety, broadband, and other priorities for Iowans. By being responsible with the state budget (taxpayer dollars) and growing the economy, we will continue to keep taxes low and fund the services Iowans need and expect.

Snider: As with most things, the answer lies somewhere in the middle. Many Iowans work full-time and still struggle to make ends meet. The cost of everything is rising and wages are stagnant.

What policies would you support to improve school safety in Iowa?

Young: Last session, we passed legislation to reduce emergency response times in schools and invest in school safety infrastructure. I led the effort to empower a task force to determine what the benchmark standard should be for a school building safety code. We must then prioritize investments to ensure schools meet that benchmark by helping to keep children and school staff safe. We must continue to address youth mental health by ensuring quality access to care and giving parents the tools to approve and monitor their children’s social media use.

Snider: We must provide a strong mental health system for our children and their families. Families are struggling to get the care and support they need to live healthy and safe lives. We cannot continue to ignore the mental health crisis in this state. We do not have enough beds to treat the seriously mentally ill. We do not have enough mental health professionals to provide treatment. If we do not properly address the mental health crisis in this state, we will all be less safe.

Iowa now has a six-week abortion ban. What action do you think the Iowa Legislature should take on abortion?

Young: It is important to me to promote life and implement policies that support strong, healthy families. This is increasingly vital in cases of unintended pregnancies or parents struggling with fertility issues. We must review and improve our foster care and adoption systems, increase access to quality maternal health care, provide financial and educational support to new parents, and protect access to in vitro fertilization treatments.

Snider: We need to repeal this ban, put medical decisions back in the hands of doctors and patients, and stop the government from getting involved in our medical practices. Iowa has the fewest doctors per capita, creating maternity deserts in many communities. This law will only lead to fewer doctors and less safe conditions for pregnant women. Medical decisions should be between doctors and their patients. The government has no place in their discussions.

F. Amanda Tugade covers social justice issues for the Des Moines Register. Email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @writefelissa.