Dené Lundberg announces run for Iowa House representing Charles City area

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Former teacher and longtime Floyd County resident Dené Lundberg has announced her campaign for Iowa House of Representatives in House District 58.

The district represents Chickasaw County, most of Floyd County including Charles City and part of Bremer County.

“I’m proud to announce my candidacy for Iowa House 58,” Lundberg said in a press announcement.

“I’ve lived in rural Iowa my whole life and in Floyd County for the last three decades. I love our community and too often we’ve seen rural Iowa left behind in the statehouse – whether that be bills that harm the public schools that are the heartbeat of our communities or bills that don’t benefit family farms and promote responsible land stewardship,” she said.

“I’m ready to be a strong voice working hard to find solutions to issues that affect rural and middle class Iowans in the statehouse,” she said.

Lundberg said she expects to be nominated at a Democratic special nominating convention for the district on Saturday, July 16. No candidates ran for the Democratic nomination for District 58 in the June 7 primary election.

Lundberg will face Republican candidate Charley Thomson, a Charles City attorney, in the Nov. 8 general election. Thomson defeated two other Republican candidates to win the GOP nomination in the primary.

Lundberg was raised on a farm outside of Hudson, Iowa. She graduated from Hudson High School in 1979 and Iowa State University in 1983 with a Bachelor of Science degree in family and consumer sciences.

She said that she and Jim, her husband of 39 years, began their married life in Charles City where Jim was hired as the agriculture education/FFA advisor. Lundberg worked at a local greenhouse and substitute teaching until beginning her teaching career in 1985.

“Charles City became my family’s home and the place we chose to raise our three children,” Lundberg said. “I want every family in my district to have the same quality of life we did. I’m running to advocate for access to strong public schools, fair wages that grow a skilled workforce, and promote economic development for House District 58 because these are the things that rural Iowa needs to thrive.

“I love northeast Iowa and I have a passion to promote development here in rural Iowa that I’m ready to turn into action as your representative,” she said.

Lundberg retired from teaching in 2018 after 33 years in the Charles City School District, where she was the ProStart and child development instructor and developed the Comet Cafe program. She is currently the event manager for the Youth Enrichment Center at the Floyd County Fairgrounds.

More information about Lundberg’s campaign is available at www.lundbergforiowa.com.