Nearly three months after the general election, Democrat Mike Zimmer defeated his opponent, Kate Whittington, on Jan. 28 to succeed former State Senator Chris Cournoyer.
The special election was arranged to fill a vacant senate seat after Governor Kim Reynolds appointed Cournoyer as Lieutenant Governor, forcing her to resign her state senate seat.
Zimmer’s win was Clinton County’s first democratic victory since 2018, when former State Senator Todd Taylor ran unopposed. Since then, democrats have suffered a series of heavy losses, including a twenty-two point loss to Cournoyer for the state senate seat in 2022, and a nine-teen point loss to Trump in the previous presidential election.
In a little over a month, Zimmer’s campaign orchestrated a 52-48 percent victory in that same area, raising nearly $39,000 – five times more than his republican opponent.
His platform, however, deviated away from standard, party-based issues, focusing instead on the most pressing needs of Iowa citizens. His campaign slogan, “Iowa Raised, Iowa Values; Hardwork and Fairness,” perfectly embodies his commitment to issues pertinent to Iowans.
Yet modern day politics rarely allows candidates to make such a digression given the increasing prevalence of political partisanship. In 2022, 72% of republicans and 63% of democrats believed that the opposing party was immoral compared to just 47% and 35% in 2016.
Consequently, the public’s dismay towards the two party system increased to a quarter of Americans from a mere 6% in 1994, making Zimmer’s Iowa-based values just what Iowan voters desired from a state senate candidate.
During his campaign, he embraced six key issues that could potentially disrupt student learning. Amongst these was the gutting of Chapter 20 Collective Bargaining, which made it illegal for workers to negotiate for pension, healthcare and supplemental pay. “Chapter 20 embraced the idea of interest based-problem solving. It provided a venue through which teachers could bargain for wages, working hours and health insurance. Now, teachers are legally restricted to wages only,” Zimmer explained.
Prior to the nullification of Chapter 20, 36% of public employees were employed under a union contract. In 2021, that number dropped to 27% – a nine percent decrease. As a result, public workers everywhere are suffering.
Zimmer’s campaign also addressed the growing trend in state legislatures to ban books, threatening libraries everywhere.
High School students nationwide have scrutinized the government’s efforts to ban books. “I think book bans only reinforce patterns of censorship that endanger students’ ability to grow,” Junior Tiffany Ku said. “When someone tells me that I can’t read a certain book, it makes me feel like I’m not smart or mature enough to understand it but I think legislatures underestimate the maturity of students.”
As a former educator, Zimmer also believes book banning is dangerous. “The banning of books is often couched under the guise of pornography, because the book talked about gay, lesbian or transgender people,” Zimmer commented. “The legislature feels as if they know more than our highly trained/educated teacher librarians.”
Before running for state senate, Zimmer worked in public education for decades, serving as a principal at Pleasant Valley High School for ten years and North Scott for two. During his education career, he worked diligently to ensure that students could reach their academic potential, raising over $120,000 to enhance student learning.
More than anyone, Zimmer understands the necessity of quality education in Iowa; his expertise could challenge Iowa’s recent changes to the educational curriculum including the banning of critical race theory and the exclusion of ‘climate change’ and ‘evolution’ in the science curriculum.
Senator-elect Mike Zimmer is set to serve the remainder of Cournoyer’s term through 2026. With decades of experience in education, Zimmer has the potential to enact change and utilize his educational knowledge to craft a new way forward for Iowa.
