By Casey Jarmes | The News-Review
KEOTA – Former Iowa Director of Administrative Services and Republican gubernatorial candidate Adam Steen held a meet and greet at Wooden Wheel Vineyards outside Keota on Dec. 13. The event was coordinated by local Iowa House Representative Helena Hayes, the fourth visit from a Republican gubernatorial candidate she has arranged in her district, which contains Keokuk County and parts of Mahaska and Jefferson Counties. Steen stated that he was running to “preserve and protect the culture that Iowa has, and preserve and protect the freedom that Iowa has.”
Steen, a former minor league baseball player and investment banker, was appointed by Governor Kim Reynolds five years ago; he resigned in August so he could begin his campaign. Steen stated that he had been operating the state for the last five years, handling human resources, procurement, accounting and major maintenance across Iowa. He referred to the job of governor as “CEO of the state,” claimed that no one has a resume as good as his, and that he can take over operating the state on day one. He stated that the governor is in charge of impacting the culture of the state. He claimed that Iowans “have grit,” are hardworking, and fix things when they are broken.
Much of Steen’s stump speech centered on his devout Christianity and his family. He spoke about his 10-year-old son Ryker, who has Joubert Syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects brain development. Steen stated that he and his wife had been told their son may never be able to walk or talk. Steen brought up John chapter 9, a biblical passage where Jesus heals a blind man, after telling his disciples that God made the man blind “so that God’s works could be shown through him.” He compared this passage to his own son, noting that he could walk and had managed to preach a sermon back in March.
“We’re a family of hope,” said Steen. “We’re a family of faith. We’re a family of grit. We’re fearless. We have no fear whatsoever in the face of a lot of challenging times that are happening right now in the state, in the country and in the world. Because, right now, if you’re watching the news, there’s a lot of hopelessness out there. There’s a lot of scary moments out there. But we know who the healer is. We know who the source of truth is, and we’re not backing down from that.”
Steen claimed that, as governor, he will incentivize skilled trades. He claimed that the current Iowa government was “pouring money into large corporations” in the form of tax credits, and that these companies then invest in AI to replace jobs. Steen stated he would call on churches, community leaders, and local non-profits to “rise up” and get government out of the way. He referred to his time at the state government a being “in the belly of the beast” and said that we need to stop relying on the government to solve homelessness, mental health problems, and food scarcity, because “the government screws everything up.”
An attendee asked what Steen would do differently than current Governor Kim Reynolds. Steen stated that it had been wonderful working with Reynolds and that she had done a lot of really great things. However, he stated that he would focus on property rights and ensure eminent domain was not used for carbon sequestration. Steen also stated he would reign in the emergency powers established during the COVID-19 pandemic and get rid of some operational contracts he doesn’t think the state needs. He stated that he would create a DOGE 2.0, but claimed he would not touch IPERS, calling it “critical to attracting and retaining good employees.”
Steen claimed that “this state is toast” if State Auditor and Democrat gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand gets elected and that he was running to keep Sand out. Hayes stated that Sand has a “completely approach and mentality” to her district’s conservative values. Steen claimed that Sand only pretends to be the state auditor, has been campaigning for seven years, and would play politics and not show up to meetings when he was Director of Administrative Services. Steen claimed that life begins at conception and brought up Sand saying that Reynolds’s six-week abortion ban went to far and that he would do anything he could to not let the state’s anti-abortion policies go further. Steen said he has a “polar opposite” world view from Democrats. “We have one world view versus another world view, and that’s what we’re seeing in the country, is a battle of world views. No more ‘woke’ agendas getting involved in our schools. We have to cut that out and protect the state,” Steen said.
One attendee asked where Steen stood on education, noting that there were a lot of teachers in her family and that a lot of teachers were getting out of education due to the low pay. Steen claimed that he loved public schools, but didn’t love the standards and curriculum that are “forced down upon our teachers that don’t allow teachers to teach.” He listed tests on reading speed, which negatively affect his son, as one such standard. He stated that Iowa needed to remove teaching standards and start over from square one to teach kids the way they need to learn. Steen threw his support behind educational savings accounts, also known as “school vouchers,” calling his position “school choice” and saying that implementing ESAs was “the absolute right thing to do.” He stated that not every kid needs to go to a four-year university and that most need to get a job right out of high school, so don’t have debt and “won’t be a communist.” He claimed that universities are “indoctrinating kids” and that young people don’t want to “achieve the American Dream” because “they think that America is bad.” He did not mention the subject of teacher pay.
An attendee explained that her son had been abused by his father, but that the courts didn’t do anything for months, even after a hearing where the judge determined her child was in danger. She asked if Steen knew how broken the family court system can be and how he would make sure children are actually protected by the system if elected governor. Steen told a story of a friend’s grandson being murdered at a daycare, stating that he was well aware that the system was broken. He claimed he had the ability to fix those problems by pulling together people to make sure that we fix them.
An attendee asked what Steen would do to foster small business growth and bring in big manufacturing. Steen stated that we needed to make the trades “cool again.” He stated he would promote vocational studies in high school and create regional hubs across the state, which act as pipelines connecting high schools and community college trade programs to businesses. An attendee asked about waste in the corrections department and overpopulation in prisons, noting that the Iowa Department of Corrections has a $430 million budget and that Iowa prisons are 22.76% over capacity. Steen stated he would look into streamlining management infrastructure, operational efficiency, and staff scheduling. Steen stated that the union has a mindset constricting change. He stated that the needed to look at wages, because there is an issue with some prison workers making less than Casey’s employees.
A Keota man brought up property taxes, explaining that tax cuts had left the city unable to pay for law enforcement. He stated that cutting taxes is necessary, but asked how they determine what’s important and not important and why everything wants to go through Des Moines. Steen claimed that he was an advocate for more local control and would keep the “big bad state government” out of the way. He then praised the 2% cap the state had placed on the ability of local governments to increase taxes, stating his only problem with it was that they hadn’t included anything to ensure local governments prove they need that tax increase. He stated that people need to be educated on the fact that the bulk of their tax decisions come from local county supervisors, city councils and school boards. He stated that he will advocate zero-based budgeting across the state, where departments have to prove they need money for every program every year. He explained that, when he implemented this program at the state level, it saved $500,000 out of the state’s $2 billion budget, or 0.00025% of the budget. Steen stated that this would create transparency and accountability.
