A governor not only endorsing but appearing at a fundraiser for a school board candidate is covering rare ground.
Then, during her annual fall fundraiser while speaking to a room full of roughly 1,000 donors — $50 per ticket at a minimum — Reynolds encouraged all in attendance to vote in their local elections for candidates whose viewpoints align with theirs.
“Please, please, please don’t forget about the elections this November for school boards and city councils,” Reynolds said. “Let’s all come together and treat this November (election) like its next November (and the 2022 midterm elections). Find out where your school board and city council candidates stand on the issues that you care about, and then go vote.
“Again, it’s all about turnout. When we show up, we win.”
Iowa Rep. Jennifer Konfrst, leader of the minority House Democrats, said she found Reynolds’ involvement in a school board race “quite concerning.” Konfrst made the comments during her appearance on this weekend’s episode of “Iowa Press” on Iowa PBS.
It was pointed out to Konfrst that political parties have long helped local candidates and used those races and locally elected officials as recruiting grounds for future candidates for the statehouse, statewide or federal races.
“I would argue that not endorsing and not focusing on it are different things,” Konfrst said. “I just don’t think it’s appropriate as a leader to go in and put my thumb on the scale in a non-partisan race in that fashion.”
