CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) -We’re talking one-on-one with candidates leading up to the midterm election next month. Democratic State Senator Liz Mathis is facing Republican incumbent Ashley Hinson to represent Iowa’s second congressional district.
Mathis is the daughter of WWII veterans. She says she grew up on an Iowa farm where she learned work ethic, including detasseling corn to attend journalism school at the University of Iowa.
”No one in my family had been in television journalism,” said Mathis.
After a long career in TV news, she worked at the non-profit Four Oaks before running for Iowa state senate where she was elected and served for a decade.
”What I want to do when I go to Washington is take that collective experience and help people with it,” Mathis said.
We asked Mathis about her stance on abortion, she has said she is the pro choice candidate.
”I am the pro choice candidate and here are the reasons why,” Mathis said.
“Ashley Hinson went to Washington and she cosponsored a bill that outlaws abortion for the entire country. And with no exceptions for the life of the mother, or for rape, or for incest, and I don’t stand for that,” added Mathis.
We asked if there is a point within a pregnancy where she would no longer support abortion.
“I think that that’s a woman’s right to choose. We know that in the state of Iowa there is no abortion for third trimester, it’s illegal,” said Mathis.
When it comes to inflation, Mathis believes work is already underway to bring down costs at the gas pump and the grocery store.
“It really is a problem. I know that. I grew up on a farm, there were hard times,” she said.
”What can we do to solve this issue? Well the Biden administration has approved E15 for the rest of the country so that has brought down gas prices slightly, especially in our area,” added Mathis.
She said the Inflation Reduction Act will help matters as well.
”Inside that bill is insulin capped at 35 which is in effect now,” Mathis said.
Childcare is another major concern in the state.
”Oh yeah we’ve worked on this for a long time because I think these two things are related, childcare and the workforce shortage,” said Mathis.
She told us money from the American Rescue Plan Act is continuing to address this.
”ARPA funds came through, they helped a lot of you know childcare centers and some of that money is still flowing,” Mathis said.
We also asked about safety in schools, particularly when it comes to shootings.
”School safety is an essential element of learning. We’ve just got to you know tighten it up and make sure that it’s there for every child,” said Mathis.
It’s something she says needs to be done without infringing on the second amendment.
”What we need to do is keep guns away from criminals, people who want to do bad things or people who want to harm themselves and so universal background checks are what we need to do along with red flag laws,” Mathis explained.
Multiple ads running on television criticize Mathis for being ‘too liberal,’ one calls her a ‘Pelosi puppet.’
”Well I say to them my name is Liz Mathis. That’s my name, you know you may listen to a lot of alliterations out there but my name is Liz Mathis and I’m going to do a great job for you,” Mathis said in response to the criticism.
You can watch the full, unedited version of our interview with second congressional district candidate Liz Mathis below:
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