Will Republican Brad Sherman or Democrat Elle Wyant prevail in the Iowa House District 91 race?

Voters in Iowa and Johnson counties face a stark choice between House candidates for the Iowa Legislature this year.

Williamsburg Republican Brad Sherman, a pastor, emerged victorious from a six-candidate primary in June with 55.5% of the vote. He is running against Marengo Democrat Elle Wyant, a UPS Airlines account manager and LGBTQ activist, who ran uncontested in the primary for this newly redistricted seat covering all of Iowa County and several communities in Johnson County like Tiffin, Oxford, Swisher and Shueyville.

Sherman is campaigning on political views like denying the 2020 presidential election results and advocating against the separation of church and state. He is the chair of the Iowa County Republicans, helped lead former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's successful 2016 Iowa caucus campaign and founded Informed Choices, an organization that attempts to dissuade women from seeking abortions.

Wyant, a transgender woman, is running on a three-pronged platform of education, economic development and equity. Wyant is a board member of One Iowa, the statewide LGBTQ advocacy group, and owns a historic one-room school house.

More:Where Brad Sherman and Elle Wyant stand on key issues in the Iowa House District 91 race

Wyant held an event in Solon in October at the public library with a small group of supporters and other local candidates ahead of the Nov. 8 election.

Sherman declined to be interviewed for this story and requested the Press-Citizen only send two to three emailed questions. Sherman's website and previous blog and social media posts provide some insight into what type of representative he would be, if elected.

Abortion, the U.S. Constitution, doubt about the 2020 election and adding religion to government are central to Brad Sherman's ideology

Sherman told the Press-Citizen via email that during the election, he has met voters through house parties, meet and greet events, door-knocking and town hall-style meetings in 10 different communities in addition to purchasing newspaper ads, email, direct mail and social media. Sherman said he also participated in a forum with the League of Women Voters during the primary, but he declined to participate in the forum for the general election against Wyant.

"The campaign has gone well, but the first thing that comes to mind is what great people we have here in Iowa!  Meeting so many of them has been a wonderful experience," Sherman said.

As he's traveled the district, Sherman said he's seen that many people are concerned about the overreach of the federal government, the loss of freedoms, and the direction the U.S. is headed.

"'We the people' must become familiar with the Constitution of our great nation, rally around it, and make government accountable to it. If we don’t know how government is supposed to work, we won’t know when it is out of line," Sherman said. "A significant part of federal accountability falls to state government and that is one of the things I hope to help accomplish in Des Moines."

Sherman has published extensive thoughts on the website for Solid Rock Christian Church, his blog and his campaign website. One of his main priorities is combatting the federal government in favor of a stronger state government.

On his website, Sherman lays out his thoughts on the 2020 election results being manipulated or fraudulent, although there is no evidence to support that. He cites the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, to claim Iowa has deficiencies with its elections.

Sherman also wrote Facebook and blog posts on Jan. 6, 2021, just prior to rioters storming the U.S. Capitol, expressing hope that evidence of fraud would be presented to the U.S. House and Senate to overturn the election. He said in his Jan. 6 blog post titled "Anger and Peace" that the actions of that day would reveal "who are the true patriots and who are not."

Sherman told the Press-Citizen that he thinks Iowa has good people managing elections and he isn't greatly concerned about election integrity in Iowa. He said he foresees no problem accepting the outcome of Iowa’s election results this year but that it is never wrong to ask questions about the 2020 election or any election because he believes that is how the country maintains election integrity.

More:Parents concerned after Republicans protest Iowa City library's drag storytime

"What we 'believe' about the integrity of the 2016 election or the 2020 election is not the issue," Sherman said. "We need to get passed the name-calling and focus on transparency and truth so legitimate questions can be answered definitively."

On his websites, Sherman also says abortion is a chief concern for him. He calls the practice of terminating a pregnancy "horrendous" and claims that if abortion is not stopped, the practice will "certainly lead to the elimination of anyone who is deemed a hinderance or unuseful to dictatorial powers."

Sherman also promotes misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic and the vaccine, comparing what he perceives as fear mongering and coercive tactics by the government to the Holocaust and medical experiments forced on people in Nazi Germany. He said he supports a blanket ban on mandatory vaccines, including banning private businesses from requiring employees to be vaccinated.

Sherman uses the sites to express the belief that church and state should not be separated and called the separation inclusion in the First Amendment "a myth." While he said he doesn't want to force Christianity on others, he advocates for a stronger presence of the religion in government.

Sherman has also published books and readings affiliated with his church that state LGBTQ issues are "satanic sacraments." Sherman told the Press-Citizen in June that he does not plan to make Wyant's gender identity an issue when Wyant said she received a death threat from one of Sherman's five primary opponents.

Elle Wyant's campaign motivated by transgender sports ban, she wants the state to spend more on education

Wyant told those gathered in the Solon Public Library room that certain states banning transgender youth from participating in sports motivated her run.

"It's a reason why I want to be at the state Capitol, so there are people who can advocate for those children who want to play sports and be treated as equals to their peers instead of being ostracized or shamed because they are different," Wyant said.

Wyant, like Sherman, has had an active campaign attending fundraisers, door-knocking events and other campaign stops. She ran unopposed in the primary and accepted the League of Women Voters invitation to the forum.

Wyant told her supporters in Solon that she believes small, rural communities will suffer if public schools are not funded correctly by Iowa. She said her children often have to drive up to 25 minutes to their schools in Tiffin.

"If we continue to take away funds from Clear Creek Amana (Community School District) or my hometown of Iowa Valley Community School District, the smaller communities will suffer more," Wyant said.

Wyant said she believes kids do not want to become teachers in the current environment, especially with how hard the pandemic was on teachers.

More:Johnson County voting guide 2022: What's on the ballot, how to register and how to vote early

"Education has always been one of those geeky things I have always been passionate about," Wyant said.

Wyant said she has heard a lot about abortion from voters in Iowa County, mostly people saying they are "pro-choice" but was hesitant to say whether people's stances on abortion will drive them to the polls compared to other issues like the economy. She said the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade, on the upcoming election could help Democratic candidates on the ballot more than it could hurt them.

"As a woman, I can see both sides of a lot of different coins. Restricting a woman's right to control her own body should be the No. 1 reason ... because without those protections all the other small communities that are marginalized will have even less of a step to stand on if a woman's right is taken away," she said.

Wyant said she used to be a Republican, but saw what she said was the error in her ways. She said she thinks the Republican Party now does more "underground" campaign events without alerting the public ahead of time.

"They don't want you to know, but they want you to know because their signs are everywhere," Wyant said.

Republicans hold fundraising, voter advantage in House District 91 ahead of Election Day. Early voting favors Democrats.

According to the most recent campaign finance filings, Sherman is outraising and outspending Wyant.

Sherman raised more than $25,000 before the primary and has raised $4,918 between July 15 and Oct. 15. He has spent $10,996 since July 15.

Wyant raised $2,830 before her uncontested primary and has raised $3,409 since. She has spent $1,599 since the primary.

According to Dave's Redistricting, a website that analyzes legislative districts by demographics and voting patterns, Republicans have a larger advantage in House District 91 than the other districts that are either wholly inside or partially inside Johnson County's borders.

The website says that when compiling voter registration data between 2016 and 2020, District 91 favors Republicans, with 55.48%, over Democrats, with 42.1%.

Democrats, who traditionally vote early in higher numbers than Republicans, were leading in both ballots that have been cast in District 91 and in mail-in ballots that had been requested in Johnson County alone. The Iowa County Auditor's Office does not publish early voting statistics online.

As of Monday, 272 Johnson County voters have requested and returned ballots in District 91 including 235 Democrats, 81 Republicans and 56 voters who don't have a party affiliation. The Johnson County Auditor's Office said that 1,149 total voters have requested mail-in absentee ballots, including 725 Democrats, 221 Republicans, 200 voters with no party affiliation and three voters who are registered with a third party.

Election Day is Nov. 8 and early voting began Oct. 19. Johnson County offers early voting in the administration building lobby and a drive-thru option at the Health and Human Services building parking ramp. One satellite early voting site was held in Tiffin City Hall on Tuesday.

The Iowa County Auditor's office offers early voting in-person 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Oct. 19 to Nov. 7. The office will also be open for early voting 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Nov. 5.

The Iowa County website does not indicate whether any satellite voting locations are occurring in Iowa County.

George Shillcock is the Press-Citizen's local government and development reporter covering Iowa City and Johnson County. He can be reached at (515) 350-6307, GShillcock@press-citizen.com and on Twitter @ShillcockGeorge

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Brad Sherman, Elle Wyant face off in Iowa House District 91 election