Meet the candidates for Iowa House District 99

Democrat Dennis Cohoon is being challenged for his seat in the Iowa House representing southeast Iowa by Republican Matthew Rinker.

Cohoon, a former educator, has served in the House since 1987 and stands as one of the last vestiges of when Democrats led Des Moines County at every level. Rinker, a business owner and five-year Burlington city councilman, believes his majority-party affiliation will better serve District 99, which now encompasses southern Des Moines and northern Lee counties.

To help voters, The Hawk Eye sent questions to the House District 99 candidates. Their answers appear in alphabetical order by last name and have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Election Day is Tuesday. Early voting ends at 4:30 p.m. Monday.

More:Cohoon and Rinker spar over party effectiveness in House District 99 forum

Who is Dennis Cohoon?

Political party: Democrat

Education: Graduated from Burlington High School in 1971, earned an associate degree in business from Southeastern Community College and a bachelor's degree in business administration and business education with minors in special education and psychology from Iowa Wesleyan College.

Occupational background: Special education teacher in the Burlington Public School District for more than 30 years.

Civic activities: Member of the Iowa Army National Guard for six years, served as a commissioner for Iowa in the Education Commission of the States and as state representative in the Iowa General Assembly.

Government background: State representative in the Iowa Legislature since 1987.

Who is Matthew Rinker?

Political party: Republican

Education: Graduated from Burlington High School in 2003, studied public policy at Southeastern Community College, graduated from Western Illinois University with a degree in political science and economics in 2013.

Occupational background: I have been a small business owner since I started as a local insurance and financial services representative in 2013. Additionally, in 2016 I began purchasing and developing residential property in the Burlington area.

Civic activities: In addition to my five years of service in the U.S. Navy, I have served many local organizations including as the Burlington Rotary Club president, president of Southeast Iowa Shop with a Cop, Delta Waterfowl Conservation, Burlington Education Foundation, SCC Blackhawk Booster, Des Moines County Community Foundation, Burlington Optimist Club Member, and a board member for the Boy Scouts of America. I have also volunteered with Burlington Riverfront Entertainment and the YMCA as a T-ball coach.

Government background: I was elected to the Burlington City Council in 2017 and am currently serving in my fifth year as a councilman. During that time, I have also served as the city’s representative on the Burlington Bees Board, Economic Development Committee, and DESCOM.

Why do you want to represent Southeast Iowans in House District 99.

Cohoon: I want to provide a voice, and work with other members of the Legislature for those Iowans whose needs and concerns are being ignored by the party (Republican) in control of our state government. While we have people living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to recover from COVID-19, unemployment, unable to keep up with inflation (higher food prices, price of gas, or utilities as we head into winter), our state is providing huge tax cuts for corporations, reducing unemployment benefits, and eliminating state income tax (half of our state revenue). That means less money for schools, hospitals, public safety (police and fire departments), and programs that help those in need of support.

Rinker: As someone who grew up in this community, I have always wanted to do everything I can to make it better. Whether it was collecting food for the local food pantry as a child, or helping the Rotary Club raise money to buy books for local children, I have always enjoyed serving my community. Now I want to take my experiences as a small business owner, father, husband, veteran and city councilman to Des Moines where I feel they can translate into being a great representative for our community.

What do you see as being the three biggest issues impacting our district and how would you work to address them if elected?

Cohoon: Education, providing job training that creates sustainable jobs, and health care, especially mental health.

Education: We need to fully fund our public schools. That means not taking taxpayers' dollars away from public schools to pay for Gov. Kim Reynolds' school voucher plan. We need to increase teacher salaries to attract our best and brightest into the profession. Instead, our teachers are being disrespected by being called sinister, evil, and some in our state government want them treated as felons. We need to get back to providing our children with a quality education, support our teachers, and make our state an education state once again.

Job training: Our community colleges have led the way in providing job training in a variety of occupations across the state. We need to continue to support them adequately. We also need to allow them more flexibility when it comes to making decisions on developing programs. We need to improve on our ability to encourage people to move to Iowa and want to stay here. Obviously wages, benefits and job security are a major part of the equation.

Health care: With one of the highest elderly populations, we need to continue to make sure health care is affordable and accessible. The private health insurance companies in our state need to provide the coverage that is needed by our citizens. They also need to make sure providers are reimbursed properly and in a timely manner. Mental health is becoming a major problem everywhere. As a state, we must make sure money being spent is addressing the problem. We are short on facilities, counselors and staff to meet the needs of our citizens who are trying to cope with mental illness. The number of homeless is also increasing, and need to be addressed through our health care system.

Rinker: I believe our community has many issues that need to be addressed at either the local, state or federal level, but there are three areas that I am equipped to most impact on.

First is housing. Southeast Iowa struggles to attract affordable single-family housing due to many factors, including a limited number of trade laborers, increased cost for building materials, and a limited number of local housing developers. I believe Iowa’s incentives for workforce housing should be expanded and even increased for areas like ours that are continuing to see significant increases in rents and housing prices.

Second is inflation. Out-of-control federal spending is squeezing households at every level. Just look at grocery prices as one example. Imagine what would happen if Iowa had spending out of control just like the feds. As your representative, I will ensure we continue to adopt sound budgeting practices that help tame inflation within Iowa.

Third is mental health. Iowa ranks 38th in the nation in the quality and access of mental health care. Iowa’s recent elimination of facilities to care for individuals needing mental health-related care only increased the problems communities like ours face. We need to support the organizations that specialize in providing mental health care, and we need to invest in facilities to support their efforts.

Where do you stand on the issue of abortion and what do you think Iowa's abortion policy should be?

Cohoon: I support a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions, along with her medical provider, or religious adviser if she desires. A woman should be able to have the right to a safe and legal abortion. I support legal abortions in the case of rape, incest, and the life of the mother.

According to a Des Moines Register poll, which is pretty accurate when it comes to predicting political races or identifying where Iowans stand on an issue, over 60% of Iowans support the right to an abortion. Over 80% of Iowans believe abortions should be legal in cases of rape, incest, and life of the mother. I agree with the majority of Iowans.

At the present time the Iowa Supreme Court is deciding whether the six-week ban on abortion passed during the 2022 legislative session is constitutional. It would not be surprising to see Reynolds, if re-elected, push for a total ban like other states have done. One-size-fits-all is not a good solution. This will cause us to return to the days when women crossed state lines to get an abortion, or performed a self-induced abortion, which would be dangerous. Our state is out of step with what the majority of Iowans prefer.

Rinker: As a father of four girls, I believe we have a responsibility to protect life whenever possible. I do believe that there are exceptions to every rule. I support the state’s ability to craft their own legislation on this issue. I am in favor of exceptions when the life of mother is at risk, or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.

What new laws, if any, do you believe Iowa should pass regarding guns?

Cohoon: I believe any law-abiding citizen has the right to own a gun to protect themselves and their property, to go hunting, target practice, or collect guns. Legislation dealing with gun safety courses or background checks to help prevent people with mental illness from getting a weapon might be proposed, but I don’t expect any gun legislation being passed.

Rinker: We must keep guns out of the hands of those who intend to do harm while protecting Iowans' 2nd Amendment rights. I believe Iowa’s current gun laws are appropriate.

If elected, what will you do to support Iowa's rural hospitals?

Cohoon: I will support additional funding for rural hospitals. We also need to find ways to encourage doctors to move into these areas. In the past, programs have helped pay for their education, as long as they stayed in that area for a set number of years.

Rinker: Health care is best when it is delivered close to home. Governments at multiple levels have complicated the delivery of health care and have forced local hospitals to absorb costs because of complex funding formulas. We need to support hospitals in all corners of the state, continue to fund the education of health care professionals to improve access, and we need to listen to our medical institutions when it comes to reducing red tape and bureaucracy.

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What can the Legislature do to help Iowans struggling to get by with inflation?

Cohoon: During the 2022 session, Democrats offered amendments to help Iowans struggling with higher costs. Everything we suggested was defeated.

We suggested a grocery tax credit, gas cards to deal prices at the pump, expanding the sales tax holiday on every purchase through that weekend. We suggested increasing the child and dependent care credit, capping the cost of insulin at $50, and a tax credit for affordable housing, which would have leveraged $23 million in federal incentives. All of these ideas were rejected by Republicans. None of these became law, even though these suggestions are being used to accuse Democrats of busting their budget.

Rinker: The current inflation crisis is being caused by the excessive spending of the federal government. While I can’t control the federal government, I will support measures to cut unnecessary spending in Iowa so we can do our part to rein in inflation.

Are you in favor of expanding medical use of marijuana and/or legalizing marijuana for recreational use in Iowa? Why or why not?

Cohoon: I am in favor of expanding medical use of marijuana. If it reduces pain for someone who is suffering and can’t afford their medication, we should help them. I don’t know if there are enough votes to support legalizing marijuana, but I am willing to consider it.

Rinker: I’m in favor of expanding the use of medicinal marijuana, but I do not support the legalization of recreational marijuana. While I understand there are many pros and cons to recreational marijuana, I don’t believe that it would be in our state’s best interest to legalize it.

Why should people vote for you?

Cohoon: I have represented this area for many years. I think that shows the majority of voters have faith in me to represent them and their concerns.

They know I will listen to them, and I don’t care about their party affiliation. I have always put the interests of this district above interests of my party or special interests.

I have always said that the voters of this district are the boss. They do the hiring, firing, and rehiring. I am asking them to rehire me to represent them for the next two years in the Iowa Legislature.

Rinker: First, unlike my opponent, I will always vote to support our local law enforcement officials, cut taxes and promote polices that grow our community.

Second, I have local government experience. This experience gives me the perspective not commonly seen in most state elected officials. Most governing happens at the local level and understanding the impact state government has at the local level is imperative.

Third, I understand the business climate and the impact state policies have on Iowa’s small business owners.

Lastly, I’m a father and husband. These are the greatest experiences I can offer and nothing has taught me more about compromise, hard work and responsibility than being a father and a husband.

This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Meet the Iowa House District 99 election 2022 candidates