Cedar Falls Democrat to run for Congress against Ashley Hinson in Iowa's Second District

A Democrat from Cedar Falls is jumping into the race to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson in Iowa's 2nd Congressional District.

Sarah Corkery filed paperwork Tuesday declaring her candidacy for the Democratic nomination. It's her first time running for office.

"I think the time is right for an unconventional candidate, someone who’s not within the system," she told the Des Moines Register. "I think people want someone like a common Iowan like me who’s worked an 8-to-5 job and had to figure out how to put food on the table as inflation goes up and everything."

The 2nd District encompasses 22 counties in northeast Iowa, including Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Dubuque.

Corkery, 48, runs a marketing and creative services agency, Corkery & Corkery, with her husband. Before that, she was vice president of marketing at Veridian Credit Union and worked at what was then known as ME&V, another marketing agency.

She has had breast cancer twice, in 2012 and 2016, which helped spur her to advocate for legislation addressing the issue, such as the Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act, which would waive waiting periods for people with metastatic breast cancer to begin receiving Social Security and Medicare benefits.

Corkery said she's spoken with Hinson about the bill previously and Hinson opposed signing on.

"And I just thought, well if she won’t do it, I’ll do it. I’ll give it a go," she said.

Hinson's team said Tuesday she is supportive of the legislation and will be joining the bill as a co-sponsor.

Corkery also criticized Hinson's record more broadly.

"She’s not voted strong on any health care bills, mental health, gun safety, insulin prices, baby formula. It goes on and on," she said Tuesday. "Her voting record really speaks for itself. So that’s our entire campaign strategy: not to try to beat her with money but just really focus on what she has done since she’s been in Congress, which has not been voting for Iowans."

Corkery is a Wartburg College graduate and a mother of three. One of her children has a disability, another is gay and another, who was adopted from foster care, is biracial.

She said supporting disability rights, LGBTQ rights and equity for people of color are all causes that are important to her campaign.

"We really just feel this state and country’s not going in the direction that we want, which is a more inclusive and supportive community for all members of our state," she said.

She pointed to her work with another family to help raise $1 million to build an inclusive park in Cedar Falls called Place to Play Park.

Corkery is the first Democrat to jump into the race against Hinson, who is serving her second term in Congress after defeating a Democratic incumbent to win her seat in 2020.

Hinson reported raising more than $740,000 during the three-month fundraising period from July through September and said she has $1.3 million in the bank.

Hinson's campaign issued a news release Tuesday "welcoming" Corkery into the race.

"Sarah Corkery will be a rubber-stamp for the radical Biden agenda of open borders, reckless spending, and silencing parents," Addie Lavis, Hinson's campaign manager, said in a statement. "We can’t wait to contrast Sarah’s extreme, liberal views with Ashley’s record of delivering conservative results for Iowans. Welcome to the race, Sarah!"

Corkery said she has begun traveling around the district and spreading her message, which she thinks can appeal to Iowans

"I am a moderate Democrat," she said. "I don’t believe everything is free and everything should be free. I know everything costs and comes from somewhere. So I think we just need some common sense."

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Sarah Corkery running against Ashley Hinson in Iowa's Second District