Where the candidates for West Des Moines' House District 28 stand on the issues
Republican state Rep. David Young is facing a challenge from Republican Chad Brewbaker and Democrat Laura Snider in his bid for a second term in the Iowa House of Representatives.
The three candidates are running in Iowa House District 28, which includes part of West Des Moines, Van Meter and Adel.
To help voters, the Des Moines Register sent questions to all federal and Des Moines area legislative candidates running for political office this year. Their answers have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
The primary election is scheduled for June 4 ahead of the Nov. 5 general election.
More: Everything you need to know about the June 4 primary election, including voting absentee
Who is incumbent David Young?
Age: 56
Party: Republican
Where did you grow up: Van Meter and Johnston
Current town of residence: Van Meter
Education: Drake University 1991 graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in English
Occupation: Adjunct professor/Drake University and Iowa state representative
Political experience and civic activities:
U.S. representative/Iowa's 3rd District, 2015-2019
Iowa state representative, 2023-2025
Who is Chad Brewbaker?
Age: 44
Party: Republican
Where did you grow up: Indianola
Current town of residence: West Des Moines
Education:
Bachelor of Science in math and computer science, Drake University,
Master of Science in computer science, Iowa State University
Occupation: Software engineer
Political experience and civic activities:
Grandson of Sen. Earl Bass of Mills County who served with Gov. Ray
Ron Paul state GOP delegate
Central Iowa Linux User Group member and free software volunteer
Who is Laura Snider?
Age: 38
Party: Democrat
Where did you grow up: Topeka, Kansas
Current town of residence: West Des Moines
Education: Juris Doctorate, 2009 graduate of Drake University School of Law
Occupation: Attorney/writer
Political experience and civic activities: I have never been involved in politics. I have served on animal shelter boards and a Habitat for Humanity board.
What would be your top issue should you be elected?
Young: I will continue to fight for Iowans to keep more of their hard-earned paychecks by ensuring taxes stay low, increase access to quality and affordable physical and mental health care, and keep Iowa a safe place to live and raise a family.
Brewbaker: Restore honest government. No municipal tax bribes by Apple/Google to abscond from school property tax. Iowa Citizens' Aide will issue report on Wellpath inmate pharmacy fraud/abuse at Polk County Jail from 2016-2022 and ongoing FDIC debit card scam with inmate commissary funds in Dallas/Polk counties. The Judicial Qualifications Commission secretary will be appointed by the House, not the chief justice. Investigate Polk County attorney Kimberly Graham and Soros Signify Home health questionable Medicaid payments for healthy young patients. Split Carlyle Group Sedgwick IACP into separate pools for municipal and county governments — segregation of police and prosecutor pools to remove incentives to misprision felonies.
Snider: Bodily autonomy.
What policies would you support to improve Iowa’s education system?
Young: Increasing the starting teacher salary to the fifth-highest in the nation and raising pay for paraprofessionals was a big and important win this past session. We also set a minimum salary for 12-year teachers to $62,500. We must continue our work on teacher pay by allocating additional dollars to help with compaction issues, as well as raising pay for additional veteran teachers doing great work for our students.
Brewbaker: Restore local control. You should be able to go to your school board with issues, not an unaccountable state Board of Education. End municipal property tax bribes so schools are fully funded.
Snider: Teacher pay increases. Defunding the voucher program. Funding Area Education Agencies. Funding public schools.
What do you think Iowa’s tax policy should be? Do you believe the state’s priority should be on lowering rates or spending on services for Iowans?
Young: I supported a fair and flat income tax of 3.8% for Iowans while ensuring retirement income is not taxed in Iowa. We’ve developed responsible budgeting principles that allow us to balance our budgets, keep taxes low, and invest record amounts of funding for education, mental health, public safety, rural broadband, and other important priorities for Iowans. By being responsible with the state budget and promoting economic growth, we can continue to keep taxes low and fund the services Iowans need.
Brewbaker: No property tax bribes for Apple and Microsoft. Flat income tax of 0% on first $50,000 of income and flat tax rate above that.
Snider: Iowa's tax policies should be proportionate to the income of the taxpayer. Corporations should pay their fair share. People are facing rising costs in housing, groceries, and costs in daily necessities. Wages aren't rising to meet those rising costs.
What policies would you support to improve school safety in Iowa?
Young: The past session we passed legislation to lower emergency response times and invest in school safety infrastructure. I led the effort to empower a task force to determine what the gold standard for a school safety building code should be. I would then prioritize investing additional funding to ensure schools reach that gold standard in helping to keep our children and school personnel safe. It's also important we continue to address children's mental health by ensuring access to care and empowering parents with responsible social media laws to protect our children.
Brewbaker: Five gallon bucket of claw hammers to every classroom for "service projects." Airsoft in junior high physical education and rifle in high school PE so kids fear and respect firearms again.
Snider: Readily available mental health and substance abuse treatment for students and their parents. Social media safety courses for students and parents. Student-led school safety boards and parent-led school safety boards. Firearm safety regulations like safe storage statutes and the reinstatement of the previous permit requirements to carry firearms.
What next steps do you believe the Iowa Legislature should take when it comes to abortion?
Young: I am pro-life. I prefer to see the Iowa Supreme Court rule in favor of the bill we passed last year to limit abortions with exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother. Going forward, we must provide support for expecting and new mothers by removing barriers that prevent children from growing up in a loving home with the support they need, such as lowering the cost of adoption.
Brewbaker: Placing mothers who miscarry under criminal investigation is not pro-life; practice of medicine without a license is already illegal. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird's and Gov. Kim Reynolds' Iowa Code 23.2 embezzlement to off campus UIHC chemical abortion clinics needs to stop. We need to raise Iowa's birth rate while keeping the abortion rate as low as possible — there is no silver bullet. State funding for a first child should be considered — we need more having a first child in their early 20s when they are young and healthy.
Snider: The government should not interfere with health care. Pregnancy is a health condition that should be reserved for families and their doctors. The government should not insert itself in medical decisions.
Michaela Ramm covers health care for the Des Moines Register. She can be reached at mramm@registermedia.com, at (319) 339-7354 or on Twitter at @Michaela_Ramm.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Meet the three candidates for West Des Moines' House District 28
