By Seth Boyes,
Candidate Brian Bruening of Elkader is seeking the District 32 seat in the Iowa Senate and spoke during Sunday’s Politics in the Park event. (Photo by Seth Boyes)
Brian Bruening of Elkader says his entire background is rooted in the humanities, and he plans to apply that same focus to his run for the District 32 seat in the Iowa Senate.
Bruening sought support from voters as he spoke during the Winneshiek County Democrats’ Politics in the Park event Sunday afternoon in Decorah’s Phelps Park.
Bruening, who currently serves as chair of the Clayton County Democrats, was raised in New Hampton before heading east to attend Boston University and later received a master’s degree in fine arts from Emerson College.
“The Iowa I grew up with — the Iowa I remembered — was a welcoming place and a place where people had common sense and had good relationships with their neighbors,” Bruening said. “It was a place where you could raise a family, and people wanted to come back and raise their families.”
He himself returned to Iowa in 2006, settling in Elkader with his partner Frederic and opening Schera’s Algerian-American Restaurant. He said his experience as a small business owner has taught him individual success is often tied to group successes — a lesson he feels also applies at the state level.
“Community interdependence is important to acknowledge, because we cannot thrive in isolation,” Bruening said. “Yet, after a decade of Republican control, the quality of life in Iowa has eroded. Their policies have torn apart the very fabric of our communities.”
Bruening feels Republican policies have been detrimental to Iowa’s communities and public schools. He criticized the state’s Education Savings Account program — sometimes referred to as private school vouchers — and the shifts in funding for Iowa’s Area Education Agencies, on which Bruening said many rural communities rely. He went on to argue lawmakers are micromanaging Iowa’s educators and passing legislation Iowan never requested. He said he aims to repeal legislation he feels has undermined Iowa communities as well as the public’s personal and parental freedoms, if elected to the state legislature.
He also criticized the state’s privatization of Medicaid services, saying individuals are being denied coverage, and he claimed hospitals aren’t being properly compensated in some cases. Bruening told Sunday’s audience Iowa has the lowest number of OBGYN providers per capita in the country, and he feels the state’s limits on abortion procedures after six weeks leave women without options for essential care.
Bruening said small towns which lose fixtures like schools or hospitals ultimately suffer as they gradually lose business, residents age and their total population ultimately dwindles.
“We need to reverse that trend, and we reverse that trend by supporting our schools, supporting our hospitals and supporting our small town businesses,” Bruening said.
Bruening also told Sunday’s audience, if elected, he plans to introduce a constitutional amendment guaranteeing Iowans right to clean air and water. The candidate went on to call for greater regulation of concentrated animal feeding operations — or CAFOS — as well as nitrogen runoff, which he said will help protect natural resources like northeast Iowa’s trout streams.
“We must prioritize local needs over political theatre,” Bruening said. “I’m committed to advocating for our people, not just in District 32, but across the state of Iowa.”
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