Grundems chair announces state senate run

Four months ago, Tracy Freese ascended to the rank of chairwoman with the Grundy County Democratic Party, and this week, she formally announced that she’ll be running for the Iowa Senate District 25 seat in 2018 and likely challenging Majority Leader Bill Dix (R-Shell Rock) amidst calls for his resignation over the handling of a sexual harassment case at the statehouse.
           
Freese, 34, is a former banker and financial planner who lives in Dike with her husband Ben and their three children. She bills herself as a pragmatic liberal in a deep red district and hopes to help her party regain the majority in the aftermath of one of the most conservative legislative sessions in state history in 2017.
           
“Did this legislation influence me? Of course,” Freese said in an interview. “(But) the fact that Bill Dix just cost Iowa taxpayers $2.2 million unnecessarily got me off the sidelines… There’s an open invitation for Kirsten Anderson to come campaign with me anytime.”
           
She went on to point out Medicare for All, responsible gun ownership and the deregulation of cannabis as issues that separate her from mainstream Democrats and could attract independent and conservative support. Most of all, though, Freese credits her own background—she calls herself “a product of the social safety net”— in inspiring her to run for office.
           
“Because my community was willing to pay its fair share to support my mother when she couldn’t support herself due to disability, I feel that it’s my debt to society to pay,” the Clinton native said. “The people that supported me, I’d like to support them. And that goes far beyond party lines.”
 
Dix, 54, a farmer and father of three, served in the state house from 1997 to 2005 before unsuccessfully running for U.S. House in 2006. He defeated Democrat Bill Heckroth in 2010 with 57 percent of the vote to win his current seat and ran unopposed in 2014.
           
On July 18, a Polk County jury awarded $2.2 million to Anderson, a former Republican Senate Caucus Communications Director, over allegations of sexual harassment and wrongful termination—specifically, that she was fired for reporting lewd conversations and jokes to her superiors— and now, fellow GOP State Senator Rick Bertrand of Sioux City has called for Dix to resign, citing a “pattern of retaliation” that he claims is typical of the majority leader.
           
In a statement, Dix argued that Anderson’s firing was the result of nothing other than her “poor work product” and that prior to his becoming Senate minority leader in 2013, the environment was “lacking in professionalism and appropriate behavior.”
           
“Any issues that arose during the trial, which had not previously been reported to a supervisor, will be investigated and addressed immediately,” Dix wrote. “During my leadership of the Senate Republican Caucus, harassment and inappropriate behavior was addressed immediately and effectively and it will continue to be addressed in that manner in the future. The Senate Republican Caucus is now a safe environment and there is no tolerance for any and all types of harassment.”
           
During a follow up interview with The Grundy Register, Dix reiterated that he has no plans to resign and has personally made a point of instituting sexual harassment training for staffers.
           
“We’ve done that on a routine annual basis ever since we became aware of the issues and have been trying to ensure that these matters are dealt with swiftly and effectively,” he said.
           
Dix repudiated Bertrand’s aforementioned characterization and said that accountability has been a hallmark of his tenure thus far.
           
“I don’t know what’s going on in Rick’s head, and I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to speculate on what’s going on in his head,” Dix said. “I’m firm and fair in how I try to lead the Senate, and I’m just going to leave it at that.”
           
Freese, however, remains unconvinced.
           
“I have a message to (Republicans), and that is prove it. If they will not prove it, then remove (Dix),” she said in regards to the party’s anti-sexual harassment policy. “If they don’t, and they are unwilling to prove their intolerance, then I will do it for them.”
           
The majority leader has not yet made an announcement on seeking re-election in 2018 but said that whether or not he had an opponent would have no bearing on the decision.
           
District 25 covers a large, mostly rural area stretching from Shell Rock in the northeast corner to Huxley in the southwest. It includes southern Butler County, all of Grundy and Hardin Counties and portions of eastern, northern and southern Story County surrounding Ames. By population, Nevada (6,798 residents at the 2010 census), Iowa Falls (pop. 5,238), Story City (pop. 3,431) and Huxley (pop. 3,117) are the largest communities in the district.