Keith Looks To Represent Iowa District 79

Samantha Keith is a Democratic candidate for the Iowa House. More information about Keith can be found at www.KeithforIowa.com.

Oskaloosa, Iowa – Samantha Keith is running for the Iowa House District 79 in the wake of Guy Vander Linden’s retirement announcement.

Keith is a Democrat in a highly Republican district and will be facing Republican Dustin Hite and Libertarian Nick Ryan.

Keith said her desire to run comes from her long-time interest in politics, both at the state and national level. Knowing that she always wanted to run for office, the opportunity to run came sooner rather than later.

“Things just kept pointing in the right direction where it seemed like it would be a good time,” added Keith.”I’ve always had an interest in doing what I can for my community.”

Keith works for Crisis Intervention Services and says she see’s a lot of need in the community. “My role at CIS is the Mahaska and Marion County sexual assault advocate. I work with people who have multiple barriers on a daily basis.”

Of those concerns, she has observed, in her work, a cutback in funding by 25 percent from the State of Iowa. “It just created some more barriers for the people we were trying serve already.”

There are other reasons Keith decide to run for the Iowa House. She expressed concern that people are expressing their concerns to their legislators, but that “maybe our legislators aren’t always taking their concerns back to the capitol with them.”

With Vander Linden retiring, Keith “decided if I wanted to see change at the state level, then I needed to be a part of that, and do more than just attending Eggs and Issues, and more than reaching out to my legislators because I’ve seen how that’s worked. While I do feel like they listen sometimes, I don’t feel like they are always listening, at least around the issues I’ve heard a lot of concern in our community.”

Keith is concerned that budget appropriations are impacting the most vulnerable in Iowa.

The 24-year-old University Park resident understands why some people may have concerns about her age. “I would say, what I might lack in life experience, I feel like I make up for in community involvement and work experience.”

“I feel like I try to stay pretty involved into what is going on,” added Keith.

When it comes to running as a Democrat in a highly Republican area, “I think that’s something I’m ready to take on. I feel like I’m going to do a lot of communicating with the voters here. Also speaking to the fact that while I am running as a Democrat, I am also someone who is going to listen to the concerns of all the people.”

“I hear a lot of concerns regarding politics in Iowa, and Mahaska and Marion County as well. I definitely feel like I could be the change that many people are looking for at the state level.”

If you would like to know more about Samantha Keith, you can find her Facebook Page HERE. https://www.facebook.com/keithforiowa/