House Challenger Thede Responds to Bite of the Political Bug

Phyllis Thede, a Democratic candidate for Iowa House District 81, is just two years away from a close but disappointing bid for the Iowa Senate, which she lost by just 436 votes. She says, however, it’s that campaign, despite its unfortunate ending, that has given her the drive to try again.

“When I lost the last time, it was a bit of a blow,” Thede said. “But I think once you get bitten by this political bug, you say to yourself, ‘Hey, you know what? I know I can do well as a representative of Iowa.’

“I developed lots of ideas when I ran last time — ideas on how I could serve the people of Iowa. I don’t want to let those ideas go. They need to happen because there are too many things that Iowans and our state need. If we don’t get out there and fight for them, these ideas will just sit. That inaction makes people frustrated. I know this because I’m one of the people who have become frustrated. I want to see action on the things that I’ve talked about and that I’ve heard talked about. Of course, I won’t be out there doing it all by myself. There are going to have to be a lot of people helping. “

Thede will face Republican incumbent Jamie Van Fossen, who has served in the Iowa House since 1995. In the 2006 election, Van Fossen defeated Democratic candidate Lauren Phelps by 567 votes, leading many to believe he may be vulnerable.

Education, Thede says, is the primary issue where she and Van Fossen differ and where she believes she can pick up voters in the district.

“I think [Van Fossen] is lacking in the education department,” she said. “Education is the key to everything. If we don’t have students doing well and succeeding in their educational arena, what’s going to happen is these children will not be able to succeed when they go on to college or even going into a workplace. So we want to make sure children are well-read and being serviced very well in the education system. This is an area that has been quiet on Van Fossen’s plate.”

Thede, who began a career in education as a paraeducator with Davenport Community Schools and is now a secretary in the media center at North High School, believes this is an area where her experience and expertise will pay dividends for Iowa’s youth and schools. During her time with the school district, she has served as union president, vice president and as a contract negotiator and grievance chair. She has also served on the state Minority Action Committee for 10 years.

“There are a lot of people who are concerned about education, but my concern stems from the fact that I work in a school system now,” Thede said. “I see a lot of things that I believe need to be changed.”

Two of those things are No Child Left Behind and class advancement on merit.

“When it comes to No Child Left Behind, I see so many teachers working so hard to try to teach to a test,” she said. “It’s very frustrating. While [NCLB] is a federal mandate, we’re seeing it on a local level — where people are just struggling to help kids learn.

“Another thing I want to take a look at is the junior high. In Davenport currently, a lot of our students are passed even though they may be failing. I’ve developed some ideas that may be solutions to that problem, but it is definitely an area where we need to take a harder look so that we can help these young people succeed.”

In addition to education, Thede, a wife and mom to three daughters, hopes to bring a case for adult health care to the table in Des Moines.

“I know the state and our legislators are really trying hard to do something about our health care,” she said. “We know kids are covered, but if we look further, we see that there are adults in need of coverage too. Some of those adults are unemployed; others just don’t have many options in terms of insurance. I want to take a look at the issue of adult health care. How can we help the people of Iowa? There’s no doubt it is a difficult thing to look at. It’s expensive. But we have to take a look and see what can be done to help those in need of assistance.”

A third key issue is the Iowa economy. Thede believes a more proactive approach to tourism might be helpful for Iowa businesses.

“When I attended a City Council meeting in Davenport, one of the things that came before the body was money that was earmarked for tourism. Unfortunately it simply wasn’t much money,” Thede explained. “How are we going to promote Iowa if we don’t do a better job promoting tourism? Since then I’ve looked at Michigan and some other states that have had success with tourism. I’d like to see advertisements of our state — some sort of a national ad campaign. Of course there need to be discussions on what should be done and on what scale, but I believe we need something that will put Iowa on better competitive market footing.”

Above all else, Thede says she wants to have active communication with the people of the district. She says that if elected officials will listen, people will talk about their experiences and needs.

“It is so interesting that when you get out into the community and just talk to people,” Thede said, “people are really good at telling you what they need. One lady told me how nice it would be if she could just keep her entire paycheck just for one pay period. She said, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if just for one day they wouldn’t take out any taxes?’ We just started talking excitedly about that. Wouldn’t it be great? One day without any taxes? Now is that realistic? Probably not. But she was thinking about what would help her situation. For her that came down to keeping her full paycheck — even it was only for one check.

“This one woman is not the only one. People are thinking. They are trying to put something out there that will benefit their situation and that of their friends and family. It’s not that they want handouts. What they want is something they are earning, that they can keep. There are lots of good people out there and lots of good ideas out there. I just want to help them as much as I can.”