Hart makes first visit to Charles City as lieutenant governor candidate

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

As a kid growing up near Charles City, Rita Hart probably didn’t realize at the time that her family dinner table was preparing her for service in the Iowa state Legislature.

“I was born into a family where my mother was a really strong Republican and my dad was a really strong Democrat,” Hart said. “We had a caucus around our dinner table, and we listened to both sides of the argument, and recognized where we could find the things that truly mattered, that we could agree on.”

She said that’s what places like Des Moines and Washington, D.C., need more of.

“That’s how you do it — you elect people who have that frame of mind, who are willing to listen to the other side, recognize that the other side might have some good ideas, and not be afraid to embrace those ideas, no matter where they come from.”

Hart made her first campaign stop in her home town of Charles City on Saturday, as a candidate for lieutenant governor. She visited about 25 locals at a “meet and greet” late afternoon event at the Floyd County Museum, which was put together on short notice.

Hart made an appearance earlier Saturday at Colwell Days in Colwell, and the campaign added the stop in Charles City at the last minute.

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Fred Hubbell announced last month that Hart is his choice for running mate to run for lieutenant governor.

Hart, 62, is currently a Democratic state senator, representing all of Clinton County and part of Scott County in the far eastern part of the state. She was first elected in 2012 and was re-elected in 2014.

She and her husband, Paul, have been operating his family’s century farm near Wheatland, about 25 miles northeast of Davenport, since 1986, and she was also a teacher for more than 20 years in the Calamus-Wheatland and Bennett Community school districts. She and her husband have raised five children.

Hart grew up with eight brothers and sisters, and she said five of them still live in the Charles City area with their families. She is the sister of long-time Floyd County Treasurer Frank Rottinghaus, who introduced her at the event Saturday.

“She does come back frequently, but this is the first time she’s been back as the candidate for lieutenant governor,” Rottinghaus said. “The Hubbell-Hart team is going to make some changes in Iowa, and Rita’s going to contribute to the success of that campaign and the success we’ll see after their election.”

Hart talked about how her youth in the Charles City community had influenced her approach to Iowa’s government business.

“It’s great to be back here with all of my brothers and sisters around,” Hart told the gathering. ”When I think back to my time in Charles City, the formative event here, of course, was the tornado, 50 years ago. It was a tough thing as a community to go through.”

She said the town was able to take that tragic event and use it to move forward to make things better than before.

“The people of the community rose up, and said ‘OK, this is a tragedy, but we’re going to make it into a positive thing,’” she said. “And there were a lot of positive things that happened in Charles City, because the community stepped up and made a difference. That’s how I look at this campaign.”

Republican incumbents Kim Reynolds and Adam Gregg are the candidates for governor and lieutenant governor running against Hubbell and Hart. Reynolds was formerly lieutenant governor, and became governor in May 2017 when Gov. Terry Branstad resigned to become U.S. ambassador to China.

Reynolds has chided Hubbell for his background, as he’s from a wealthy Des Moines business family, and accused him of being out of touch with everyday Iowans. Hart, a small-town Iowa farmer and former teacher, disagrees.

“I have quite a bit different background than Fred, but I believe we share a lot of the same values,” Hart said. “When we have those kinds of conversations, it’s clear that we have a lot of things in common.”

Hart said that finding common ground is something she has focused on as a state senator.

“We have two parties here, and we want to have a civil engagement between the two parties,” Hart said. “That’s how you end up with good policy.”

She added that when she first started in the Iowa Senate, the chamber was much more bipartisan and collegial than it is today.

“The last two years have been nothing but divisive. It’s a totally changed environment,” Hart said. “Things are changing dramatically in the state of Iowa and they’re going to change more dramatically if we don ’t have success in November. There’s an agenda in Des Moines that I find to be ‘anti-what-I-grew-up-with.’”

Hart said that she and Hubbell offer a different agenda.

“The agenda of ‘we’re all in this together,’ and ‘we try to lift everyone up’ — that’s the type of agenda I am happy to be a part of.”

Hart pointed to the state budget situation and the privatization of Medicaid in Iowa as two serious problems that need to be dealt with right away.

“Everywhere I go, I’m listening to some sad story from somebody who didn’t get the health care or services they needed,” she said. “I’m hearing from hospitals that are struggling because they didn’t get reimbursed, or from providers who are struggling and thinking about going out of business. That has to turn around, or our small towns are going to continue to struggle, more than they already do.”

Hart said she and Hubbell also intend to address the skilled worker shortage in Iowa, education and rural economic development. She was also critical of recent changes to collective bargaining laws, which she described as a situation that’s gotten out of control.

“That’s truly been a game-changer in the state of Iowa, and people I talk to are not very happy about it,” she said. “We had a great law, that had been on the books for over 40 years, crafted by a Republican governor with bipartisan support. It stood the test of time.”

She said it didn’t make much sense for the Republican majority to change that law two years ago.

“The majority party got behind closed doors, came out with a bill that they slammed through the Legislature without much input from anyone else, and caused great division throughout the state,” she said.

Hart said that she and Hubbell simply have different priorities than their Republican opponents.

“We have to help the small towns in Iowa, and that’s something we can do if we invest with the right priorities,” she said.