I’d like to share a list of crucial reasons why I’m supporting EDDIE ANDREWS FOR GOVERNOR — and more importantly, why he is the ONLY candidate who can actually win against Democrat Rob Sand in the GENERAL election. That is where the rubber meets the road.
First, a little info about Eddie that you may not know: He and his wife have been married for 40 years, have raised 3 children and are grandparents of one grandson. Eddie is a bilingual pastor (yep, a black guy who is fluent in Spanish!) who co-pastored a Spanish-speaking congregation for 14 years. He also is a tech entrepreneur who volunteered teaching coding to at-risk students, giving them marketable skills as well as mentoring them in all areas of life. He has served three terms (6 years) as a state representative in the Iowa Legislature. And he can SING! Google some YouTube videos of Eddie and State Representative Brooke Boden singing praises to God at the Iowa Capitol. Eddie grew up in Des Moines and loves Iowa and its people.
Reasons I’m supporting Eddie Andrews for governor:
1. Eddie has won THREE elections (six years) in a purple, and then blue district (after redistricting)! To accomplish that, a Republican candidate needs the votes of Independents and conservative Democrats. Eddie excelled at connecting with people and got those votes while serving through all those years as one of the most conservative legislators at the Capitol.
There are a lot of conservative candidates running, and most will vote pretty much the same on most issues. But Eddie is the only one who has already proved that he can get elected in purple (Red/Blue split) and blue (Democrat) districts.
Even though we have a Republican trifecta right now, Iowa has always been purple; elections can go either way. Remember all those years of Democrat Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal controlling the entire state legislature? And Republicans have recently lost some special elections around the state that we should have won. Candidates who can only get red votes cannot win the governorship! Since we have a candidate who fits all the conservative categories, who has already proved — three times — that he can win in purple and blue districts, we have the ideal candidate to challenge Rob Sand. Eddie Andrews is the only Republican who CAN beat the Democrat.
2. Eddie is immovable from his conservative convictions. Through three terms in the Iowa Legislature, he has consistently voted his conservative Christian and conservative Republican values without being influenced to do otherwise by anyone — not family members, not friends, not donors, not lobbyists, not even legislative leadership! He has a consistent 6-YEAR TRACK RECORD of *not* being influenced by anyone to abandon those values.
3. Eddie is THE reason (along with Senator Ken Rozenboom) that we have strong PARENTAL RIGHTS language in the Iowa Code. Those rights are now embedded in the Code as “Fundamental” rights, giving the highest level of protection to families. Without Eddie, the law would have been passed with very weak protection and several loopholes to enable usurping of parental rights by government agencies. If you are a parent or grandparent, THIS alone is reason to vote for Eddie. Parents would NOT have solid legal protection in raising their own children without his bold intervention! The details are quite amazing, and truly show God’s hand, but to save space and continue the flow here, I will provide that information as an addendum at the end.
4. Experience. The legislature and governor work hand in hand to pass and sign legislation. Eddie has six years of legislative experience, which will enable him to hit the ground running, without wasting years in a learning curve as the other candidates without legislative experience will need to do.
Do you remember President Trump’s first term? He lost two years of time during the “learning curve” of realizing the depth of evil in the swamp, who he could trust and who he couldn’t, who had infiltrated his administration, and much more. After struggling through that, he lost the Republican trifecta so had his hands tied the second two years.
Eddie won’t have a learning curve. He already has all the experience, insights, and inside knowledge of how things *really* work within the legislature, and between governor and legislature, so he can hit the ground running as an efficient executive.
5. Money. We all know that the money will flow to whoever becomes our nominee. All Republicans have a vested interest in our candidate beating Rob Sand. Regardless, here’s an insight about Eddie and his ability to win with or without huge funding. During a second run, he received ZERO funds from the House, who gave money to all other Republican candidates in tight races. ZERO! But Eddie kept doing what he had already been doing — knocking on doors, talking with Iowans, listening to them, sharing his ideas, and showing that he truly cared about people. THAT is how Eddie Andrews got elected — three times — while being way out-funded by his competitors. If he can accomplish all of that without the usual funding, just think of how powerfully he will be able to get his message to all Iowans once he is our gubernatorial nominee and all Republican funds are directed toward his victory.
6. Sincerity and genuine caring. Eddie is like Mike Huckabee when Mike campaigned in Iowa — people just love him! He connects with even those who disagree with him because he is a people-person. One example: Hubby and I door-knocked with Eddie during his campaigns. One of my first memories is of Eddie spending 45 minutes listening and talking to a mom (a Democrat) who invited us into her home to discuss mental health, an issue that was at the top of Eddie’s priorities. Her life had been devastated by mental health issues of a family member and inability to get adequate services. We sat there for 45 minutes while Eddie listened to the needs she described, offered sympathy and concern, agreed with the problems she described, and told her his ideas for accomplishing improvement. NO candidate spends 45 minutes at one door! But Eddie did. That Democrat mom voted Republican, at least for Eddie, and became a cheerleader for him.
Another time, Eddie was asked about his pro-life views by a self-described pro-choice Democrat woman. He very kindly and conversationally explained to her his 100% pro-life views from conception to natural death, and they continued to converse congenially. At the end, she confirmed that she would NOT be voting for him because she disagreed with his conviction on that issue. But that didn’t phase Eddie. He’d made a friend, and that was important to him. They could talk again and discuss other issues as well. Eddie doesn’t *use* people as some candidates do; he truly respects and appreciates their desire to engage in conversation and his opportunity to serve and help them in whatever ways he can.
That’s why he has won as a conservative in districts that tends to vote Democrat. And that’s why he is the only Republican who can win the state of Iowa.
7. Hard-working (to put it mildly!). Eddie is called by many of his colleagues in the Iowa House as the (or one of the) hardest-working legislator. He burns the candle at both ends and is almost always the last one to leave the chamber at the end of the day, often several hours after it has adjourned. In a recent post, a trooper who trains the troopers who guard the Capitol, always tells his young troopers that if the light is on in the chamber at 2 or 3 in the morning, don’t worry. It’s just Eddie working. You need a governor who works like that when no one is watching.
Additionally (and this is SIGNIFICANT to the governor’s race!), Eddie continued to serve full time (make that MORE than full time because that has been his practice for six years) in the Iowa Legislature while simultaneously squeezing in campaigning for governor every minute of his “off-work” hours. He is the ONLY gubernatorial candidate who has worked a full-time job serving Iowans while running a campaign for governor. The session is over now, and he can finally campaign full time … with the few weeks that remain. Eddie is the hardest worker I have ever known. He’s not a status-seeker; he’s simply very committed.
8. As Eddie always says, “Promises made; promises kept.” He does what he says he will do. In addition to keeping promises in his work at the Legislature and years of pastoral ministry and educational volunteer work, here’s a funny story that makes the same point: Eddie committed to speak at an event several hours from his home, and on the way there, THREE deer hit his car! Two at once, and then a third. With an undriveable car, no car rental facilities in small-town rural Iowa, and an event that he had promised to speak at, Eddie got creative. There was a U-Haul truck rental place in the area, so Eddie rented a U-Haul truck and showed up at his speaking engagement driving that U-Haul. Now THAT is commitment. Most others would have cancelled. Too much stress. But Eddie thrives on finding ways to make things work.
9. Unwavering principles and integrity. When Adam Steen approved allowing the satanic display at the Iowa Capitol because he feared lawsuits, Rep. Eddie Andrews and Rep. Brad Sherman opposed it from the very start. They both operate on the same philosophy that they need to do the right thing and let the chips fall where they may. Steen later had the rules changed after he got flak from conservatives.
Standing strong on principles, as Eddie and Brad did, is CRUCIAL for the governorship. It’s a sign of strong leadership, and it’s a result of integrity. I salute both Eddie Andrews and Brad Sherman for opposing Adam Steen’s satanic temple authorization.
10. Persistence in the face of attacks. When several folders of the legally required signatures that Eddie was ready to turn in to the Secretary of State were stolen from his car near the deadline, he quickly gathered his team to go door to door, getting signatures to replace the 800 that were stolen, in time to meet the deadline. As if that wasn’t enough drama, Adam Steen’s campaign then approached him twice and Steen himself once, threatening to challenge Eddie’s signature count unless he dropped out of the race and supported Steen’s campaign. (I’m curious as to how Steen knew that Eddie’s vote count might be at risk since the theft of names hadn’t been announced publicly). Nevertheless, as a true leader does, Eddie had commissioned his team to help him recapture the stolen signatures and he trusted them to do that. Then, as always, he prayed and trusted God for the results, showed up at the hearing where a Steen donor challenged him, and handled it with grace despite the idiocy that was taking him away from his legislative duties and off the campaign trail, and taking other elected officials away from their jobs to spend endless hours counting, recounting, checking and rechecking. Eddie was victorious, and rightfully so.
There are many more reasons, but this is enough. I do want to take a moment to tell why I’m *not* supporting the other candidates because that is equally important.
ADAM STEEN: I’ve already mentioned a few things in the text above, but here’s a very quick recap: Because of his authorization of the satanic display in the Iowa Capitol, then changing his mind after receiving flak from conservatives, he has proved himself *not* trustworthy to do the right thing from the beginning. He has no legislative experience, which is crucial to knowing how to get things done. The governor needs to work closely with the legislature, including individuals, committees, and caucuses, plus lobbyists and citizens.
But the most egregious reason I cannot support Steen is his threats to Eddie — once personally and twice through his campaign — that he would challenge Eddie’s signature count if Eddie didn’t drop out of the race and join Steen’s team. That, after 800 of Eddie’s signatures were stolen from his car. Challenging counts is a legal practice and I have no problem with that. But threatening another candidate in an effort to get him to drop out is unconscionable. We don’t need a governor who gains ground through opportunistic actions.
Even worse is Steen’s denial that he was behind it. He sent out four press releases denying he had anything to do with it, and only came clean when the Secretary of State through an Open Records request, said that only two people in the entire world had requested this information – Steen’s campaign manager and Steen’s communication director, so anyone else had to get that information from their camp.
RANDY FEENSTRA: I don’t even need to articulate anything here. I’ve only met one or two conservatives who support him. He is the most non-liked candidate by his own party that I have seen in all my years of political involvement. He basically does nothing, doesn’t show up for the people, and would make a terrible governor.
ZACH LAHN: Nice guy, but he has zero legislative experience, and hasn’t shown any commitment to Iowa till he decided to run for governor. He is a businessman (not a farmer, just because he inherited a farm) who spends time between his home in Kansas and his home in Iowa. He has said that is necessary to visit kids that he and his wife have in Kansas from previous marriages. An article that researched his travels show his plane spending 75 nights in Wichita since last October. If he is elected governor, either our state will suffer or his children will suffer. Not a good situation either way.
His quote to the Register: “If I’m elected governor, it would be a different arrangement, and we would work it out. Because, you know, we’d be in Iowa as much as humanly possible.” Ummm, we need a governor who does not consider Iowa a place to be “as much as humanly possible.” We need a governor who is committed to Iowa.
I’m also troubled by his thinking that he can buy votes with his wife’s millions (she was married to a son of the Koch Brothers founder). When you spend lots of money to bring in celebrities to draw crowds, it means you don’t have any experience to tout, so you wow them with a fun evening. He may be good governor material someday, but he needs more experience first. And showing a stronger commitment to Iowa would be nice, too.
BRAD SHERMAN: I love Brad. He and Carole are longtime friends. I didn’t commit to a candidate for months because Eddie and Brad are both good friends and both running for the same office. It was heart-wrenching. Both have legislative experience, although Eddie has a lot more. And both will vote pretty much the same. Both are men of integrity and will stand on their convictions. Both are pastors, although Brad has pastored longer.
These two are the very best candidates we have for governor. The reason I am throwing my support behind Eddie is twofold:
(1) I saw Eddie fight hard for parental rights for several years. We worked together. He was a bulldog in this battle — sunk in his teeth and kept shaking the bill in front of all the apathetic or fearful or disinterested legislators and making it a priority. He didn’t quit till we won.
(2) Eddie has been victorious in elections three times — over six years — in a purple, then blue, district. He has proved he can get the votes of Republicans, Independents, and conservative Democrats.
Iowa is purple-to-blue. The only Republican candidate who can beat the Democrats is the one who can get those votes. Eddie has, and can. Both Brad and Eddie are fully capable of governing Iowa well. They have very different personalities, but the same conservative Republican and Biblical convictions. I love them both, but believe that Eddie is the one who can win in our increasingly blue-leaning state.
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Addendum: Here are the details of Eddie Andrews’ successful years-long battle to embed strong parental rights in the Iowa Code.
Eddie introduced the first parental rights bill shortly after being elected to the Iowa House. The bill got watered down from 7 rights (that Iowa high courts had ruled as fundamental rights of parents) to 2 rights by Republican Rep. Brian Lohse, who was assigned to head the committee. Lohse said he didn’t like the 5 parental rights that he had removed. And he threatened to kill the bill when it came back to the House if the Senate dared to amend back in the other 5 parental rights he had removed. So, we let it die because it would have been senseless to have an Iowa law giving parental rights a substantially weaker status than the existing court rulings.
Eddie didn’t give up. He spent time meeting with lawyers from a national parental rights organization and a national legal organization that had dealt with parental rights in multiple states for decades. He was determined to find a way for Iowa parents to have their parental rights encoded in Iowa law as fundamental rights, since judicial rulings can be quickly overturned by an activist judge.
Just as he was re-introducing the legislation in a new session, Gov. Reynolds introduced her phenomenal bill that protected children and also enumerated parental rights — the same rights that had been in Eddie’s bill, just phrased differently. Only one problem, which Eddie understood from his years of working on the legislation: The rights needed to be identified as FUNDAMENTAL or they wouldn’t have given parents adequate protection. Another term also had to be changed, which Eddie immediately recognized as a loophole to usurp parental rights, because the opponents had fought to include that dangerous wording in Eddie’s bill earlier. He saw that they were attempting to do the same to the governor’s bill.
In the final days, when neither the House nor the Senate wanted to make any changes to the bill for fear of it not passing, Eddie contacted Senator Ken Rozenboom, who had done enormous research and fully understood the importance of adding in the crucial language and deleting the wording that would have undercut parental rights. They pow-wowed the day before the decision had to be made by Ken, who then added it in.
Those two are HEROES!!!! And even more so because this transpired during a time late in the session when the House Republicans and Senate Republicans could not agree on anything. Eddie Andrews (House) sought out Ken Rozenboom (Senate) and together they agreed on what needed to be done to protect Iowa parents and children.
THAT is why Iowa parents have STRONG parental rights legislation, crafted to withstand attacks on parents’ rights to raise their children as they see fit. This is an enormous victory, because if we lose the ability to direct the upbringing and education and overall care of our children, then we’ve lost everything.
The best way you can thank Eddie is to vote in the June 2 primary election for this man who has more-than earned our trust through his work in the Iowa Legislature.