Tripp Sees Value In Positive Campaign
Tim Tripp works his way around Oskaloosa on Saturday door-knocking and introducing himself to voters for Iowa Senate District 40
Oskaloosa, Iowa – The days are quickly counting down to the general election in November. Less than 100 days remain, with the candidates and their campaigns quickly picking up the pace to secure their base, and to reach out to the independent and swing vote.
Pella Disability Attorney Tim Tripp (D) has served on the Pella School Board since 2011 and was recently nominated in a special convention to run against Ken Rozenboom (R) for the new Iowa Senate District 40 seat. District 40 includes Mahaska County and Oskaloosa, but also includes Centerville, Albia and Pella.
Saturday we found Tripp working his way door-to-door in Oskaloosa door-knocking. “We’re having a great time meeting the people here in Oskaloosa,” Tripp said.
Tripp says that the platform he’s promoting for his campaign “comes down to healthy communities.”
“We’re very concerned about the economic situation in all the counties of District 40,” said Tripp, while he used the example of the difficulties experienced in Appanoose County and in particular the Centerville area after the closure of Rubbermaid some years ago. “We’re very concerned what’s happening down there.”
Pointing towards a positive in the same area, Tripp highlighted the Honey Creek Resort as a positive that has come to that community since Rubbermaid left, and he wanted to encourage people to “go and participate in Honey Creek”.
Beyond the Appanoose area, Tripp spoke of the opportunities available in local area employers such as Pella Corp, Vermeer, Musco and Clow. “Those businesses really create jobs, good opportunities for people to make money.”
“How we can step into that and help them do their business better and help labor be able to step into those positions and fair wages and make certain they get the benefits that are necessary as well.”
Iowa’s education system is another important aspect to Tripp, “Healthy schools. I’m on the School Board in Pella, and again I’m thinking back in the lower part of our district of Centerville, a school that had a huge, huge budget cut this year. We can’t allow that, we can do better than that.”
“We used to be top of the nation in terms of our education. You look at statistics today, we’re not there.” Tripp further explained that, “there are different testing structures that are used and different methodologies that might push into that a little bit, but really we can do better in our education. As we grow our education, we advance our education early on. Early reading, early preschool is critical. K thru 3rd is also extremely critical.”
Tripp says he is running a grassroots campaign, “It’s your voice going to the senate floor. I’m not taking special interest money, I’m not taking lobbyist money. I want to do it old school. The people in District 40…I don’t represent some special interest out of Chicago, New York, Des Moines. I represent the people in District 40.”
“Since we’re running a grass roots campaign we are extraordinarily conservative with every dollar that I get donated. A friend of mine told me the way that I run my campaign is the way I’m going to legislate. If I’m conservative with money here in the campaign, that’s the way I’m going to legislate, and it’s true, it’s a great training ground.”
“I’m committed to running a positive campaign, even the comparison it’s very easy to slide negative so I want to focus on the positive.”
As Tripp prepared to move on to the next house, he quoted something he had heard earlier, ‘The things that unite us, are much stronger than the things that divide us.”
With that, Tripp finished our conversation with, “I’m committed to making sure we move forward in unity, to get the real things done that we need done.”
