Dear Iowa

Dear Iowa,

I am disappointed.

I have always been proud to be an Iowan. The small town, midwest upbringing is something I will forever be grateful for. Learning how to shuck corn, CyHawk football games, and summer campfires are rites of passage in this state. Iowa is a state known for 'Iowa nice', where you can ask your neighbor for a cup of sugar and they will give you four other ingredients "just in case". And after your arms are full of food, you will stand in their doorway for 30 minutes talking about endless topics in a classic 'midwestern goodbye'.

All of these characteristics of Iowa is why I am so glad to have been born and raised in this wonderful state, but today I have never been more upset with my state. Yesterday, Iowans decided to choose a future where not all are accepted and appreciated. Yesterday, Iowans chose the party of power over the part of people. Yesterday, Iowa became a state that I do not want to live in anymore.

Just 14 years ago we voted for the first Black president of the United States. We showed the country that if a state with a significant white majority could vote for Barack Obama, they could too. Iowa was a swing state back then. A state where, although we might have disagreed on politics, we came together when it mattered. It is no longer that state. It is no longer a state I recognize.

Yesterday, we chose to elect a party who openly and enthusiastically takes away the right to privacy of millions of women. We elected the party who, despite thousands of people dying due to gun violence each year, still refuses to implement any common sense gun control laws. They even went as far as passing a right to bear arms amendment that Iowans stupidly agreed was necessary. We elected the party who believes there are only boys and girls, that marriages should be between a man and a woman. We elected a party who is unashamed of being racist. A party who does not see education as a priority anymore.

This is not the Iowa I know. People like Deidre DeJear and Admiral Michael Franken would have been necessary additions to Iowa. We would become a state of acceptance, of progress, of safety. Instead of being hopeful, today I am scared. I am uncertain of our future. Rights will be taken away from me and the people I love.

I had the honor to attend the Iowa Democratic Watch Party yesterday. I saw candidates graciously accept defeat. I saw candidates who refuse to be quieted. I saw candidates who now have more fuel to get the state back to one worth fighting for, one worth living in.

So today I am disappointed. But Iowa, I would watch out. You have pissed off the wrong generation. Gen Z has had enough of our politicians not protecting us. We have had enough of old politicians creating a scary world that we will have to fix, and they won't even be alive for.

As Martin Luther King Jr. said, "The arc of moral justice is long, but it bends towards justice." I am confident that I am right. I am confident that when this period is studied in textbooks, I will be on the side of justice. I am confident that this state can get back to where it once was.

Dear Iowa, I still love you but I am disappointed. With disappointment comes anger and anger is the strongest fuel. This angry Gen Z liberal is coming whether you like it or not.

Always ~

Authentic, ambitious, and aptly adventurous

(Members of the Iowa State University Democrats club with Deidre DeJear. I am second from left.)