Brewbaker challenges Young for Iowa House District 28 seat
Will face off in June 4 primary
There will be a contested Republican primary in the District 28 state House seat in Dallas County.
Former U.S. Rep. David Young, a Republican who represents District 28, announced on March 13 his plans to run again for the state legislative district seat.
Iowa Secretary of State records showed that Young had filed the same day for the June 4 primary election — has had a fellow Republican, Chad Brewbaker, of West Des Moines.
District 28 represents areas of Dallas County including southwestern West Des Moines, Adel and Van Meter.
Young gets endorsement from Iowa speaker of the House in his reelection run announcement
Young, of Van Meter, represented Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District between 2015 and 2019 before he lost to Democrat Cindy Axne in 2018 and 2020. Young also was chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley from 2006 to 2013.
In November 2022, Young defeated Democrat Sonya Heitshusen for the District 28 seat.
Young said in a news release, “In my first term in the statehouse, I’ve stuck to my principles to offer solutions and be a strong voice for my constituents. I seek feedback from my district and stay focused on fighting for their priorities.”
He wants to continue fighting for “a stronger educational system, lower taxes, and freedom from government overreach.”
Young — an adjunct professor at his alma mater Drake University — is an assistant majority leader in the Iowa House and serves on the Commerce, State Government, Appropriations and Administration and Rules committees.
His announcement to run again as an incumbent included an endorsement from Republican Speaker of the Iowa House Pat Grassley.
Grassley said, “David is known for sticking to his principles, offering solutions, and doing what he believes is right for his district. He is in touch with the people he represents and is a vocal advocate for the priorities of HD 28. I look forward to continuing to work with him in the Capitol.”
Former Libertarian Brewbaker running as a Republican
Brewbaker ran in 2018 as a Libertarian against Democrat Jennifer Konfrst and Republican Michael Boal for the Iowa House District 43 seat. Konfrst won that election.
Brewbaker said Wednesday he had not run for any office since.
He said he wants to be sure tech giants like the Microsoft and Apple are paying their fair share of property taxes as they expand data centers in the western suburbs.
Brewbaker does not want Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System to invest in private equity. “I want IPERS to be conservatively invested for our teachers.”
And he said rather than the school voucher system Iowa has in place that lets families use public funds to pay for their child’s private school costs, he’d like every fulltime, licensed teacher in the state to be paid directly from the state, whether they work at a public or private school.
Brewbaker credited former 2024 U.S. presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy for bringing him and other Libertarian-leaning Republicans back into the GOP.
Laura Snider, a Democrat from West Des Moines, announced on March 12 her candidacy to run for the Iowa House District 28 seat.
Phillip Sitter focuses for the Des Moines Register on reporting on suburban growth and development in the western metro areas. Phillip can be reached via email at psitter@gannett.com. He is on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @pslifeisabeauty.