We have all heard it over and over, again. “This is the most important election ever.”

I am here to tell you that this midterm is the most important election ever and to ask you to make sure that you are registered to vote. Everyone needs to make sure that you have a plan to vote whether absentee ballot, voting at the courthouse or going to your local polling place on election day: November 8, 2022.

The results of this election will determine what happens not just in the next two years. Not even, what will happen in the next 4 years.

This election will determine what happens for decades to come.

There are so many issues on the ballot this year.

Not just a woman’s right to make her own medical decisions. Not just public money going to public schools. Not just restrictions on what can be taught in our schools. It might be your right to love the person you choose to love. The American Dream is on the ballot. The family farm is on the ballot. Social Security and Medicare are on the ballot. The state’s economy is on the ballot. Carbon pipelines and eminent  domain are on the ballot.

Your vote matters more this year than ever. You don’t like to get involved in politics, remember your boss votes, your banker votes, the other people affecting your live votes. Does your child attend public school? Do you count on the fact that there will be an ambulance available when you need one? Politics affects your life everyday.

Do you want Iowa to grow? Do you want young people to stay in Iowa? If the Republicans are allowed to stay in control in DesMoines, no large corporations will want to relocate to Iowa. Our young people will graduate from our colleges and universities and move to other states. Teachers will not teach in Iowa, where they are considered sinister. Seasonal construction workers will not work in a state where they can only receive 10 weeks of unemployment.

We need to remember that our great state of Iowa was first in education. Iowa used to welcome immigrants. (Thank you Governor Ray) Iowa said you could marry whoever you love, long before the rest of the country. Iowa desegregated our public schools long before the rest of the country. Iowa was always a leader in the country, not a follower. 

The Iowa I grew up in taught us to love our neighbors no matter who they are. We all worked together. We stood united not just in times of trouble but everyday.

VOTE BLUE IN 2022

Shelley Pimlott

1976 Graduate North Scott CSD