That's the Ticket!

Unless you've had your telephone and television unhooked for the past four months, you know that the election is Tuesday. Like a growing number of Iowans I already voted by mail. Here are some of the people I was proud to vote for:

U.S. Senate:

Dr. Doug Butzier (L.)

Sadly, Doctor Doug passed away at the age of 59, Monday October 13, when the light plane he was piloting crashed. The good doctor was an emergency room physician and leader at Mercy Hospital in Dubuque.

Given his position, it might not be surprising that flaws in Obamacare and government interference in medicine are what helped convince Butzier to run for U.S. Senate. He believed that there should be a free market for healthcare, not “free” healthcare.  He pointed out: "When you receive anything for 'free,' that means that someone else paid for it.  You should not be forced to pay for or subsidize someone else’s healthcare.  Government involvement only lowers the quality for everyone and drives up the costs."Butzier also wanted America's veterans to receive quality healthcare in their own communities rather than going off to shoddy government run VA hospitals.

Dr. Doug also believed in extending the free market into the education system as well. He believed in curtailing the Constitutional usurpation of the federal government and was a supporter of Americans' Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Although largely ignored by the media until his death, Dr. Doug Butzier stood out from his two mudslinging rivals for the Senate seat.

U.S. House Dist. 1

Rod Blum (R.)

Blum is owner of Digital Canal Software.  He is also a student pilot, real estate developer, and has written a conservative column for the Telegraph Herald. Blum is active with Liberty Iowa, a leading "Constitutional conservative" group, and is endorsed by the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America.


The five "cornerstones" of Blum's campaign are: 1. Personal Responsibility 2. Constitutionally Limited Government 3. Fiscal Sanity 4. Free Markets and Competition 5. Sanctity of Life.

Iowa Governor

Dr. Lee Hieb (L.)

Dr. Hieb is a long time orthopaedic surgeon who served as an officer in the U.S. Navy. See has written numerous articles in professional journals, political columns and has a forthcoming book, Surviving the Medical Meltdown.


Hieb states she will use the following principles in governing Iowa: "1. I shall always vote to increase individual liberty. 2.  I shall sign and vote to restrain the power and scope and size of state government. 3.  I will fight to eliminate any tax which compels citizens to pay for things they find morally objectionable. 4.  I will legislate to push back the Federal Government from our border and exercise (for a change) our Tenth Amendment rights to state sovereignty."

Iowa Secretary of State

Jake Porter (L.)

Porter is a business and non-profit manager who has served on non-profit boards, managed several political campaigns, and has retail management experience running multi-million dollar department stores. One of the Secretary of State's most important duties is to oversee the state's elections. Says Porter: "We need someone who is independent of the two major political parties to act as a referee and that is the type of candidate I am." In addition to keeping the Secretary's office independent and transparent, Jake wants to make starting a business in Iowa easier.