Election 2012: Lundby Walks in Volunteer, Walks Out Candidate for Marion's Iowa House District 68

Daniel Lundby walked into a Linn County Democratic Party meeting offering to volunteer, but walked out a candidate for the Iowa House District 68 against incumbent Nick Wagner.

He's is the son of Mary Lundby, a renowned, now deceased, Iowa state senator. Diane Hoffmann, chair of the Linn County Democrats said his experience in campaigning for his mother since he was 5 and his namesake made him a great candidate.

We sat down with Lundby and spoke on his history in politics in addition to the issues facing our district, Iowa and Iowa politics.

Local Level

Lundby said some of his largest frustrations with local politics stem from local politicians not listening to their constituents.

"I grew up observing a one on one relationships between voters and representatives, through personal letters, phone calls, and attending events," he said. "That seems to have been lost."

He said this means politicians legislate not necessarily on the opinions of those in the community, but on ideology. 

Education

He sites this issue as the reason behind why Iowa Governor Terry Branstad’s education plan has gone through revisions.

"They were not listing to teachers from Iowa," he said. "I don’t feel that the voices of parents were considered in Branstad’s original reform plan."

Lundby said as a result a lot of parents are concerned about publicly funded preschool disappearing.

Division

This ideological thinking has caused a divide between Democrats and Republicans, but Lundby said he hopes to close that gap.

"Both sides have god ideas and both sides should be listened to," he said. "When they are both put together in a final product both sides win and things get accomplished."

He said he’s uniquely prepared to face this challenge. He’s a long time Republican turned Democrat who claims he’s never voted a straight ticket.

Lundby points to his mother’s success as proof of this idea. She was a Republican who was known for her work in the preservation of Iowa’s environment. Mary Lundby supported these because they concerned her constituents, not because it was on the Republican platform.

"That’s not something that we’ve seen being talked about," he said. "It has become a lost issue."