Democrats have the opportunity to flip seats up and down the ballot across the country. At the same time, Americans across the political spectrum are increasingly frustrated by the flagrant political corruption we see just about everywhere. So, Democratic candidates running on anti-corruption platforms are absolutely essential to turning this country around.
Lindsay James (IA-2) is one of those candidates. James is a chaplain, a state legislator, and a fighter. She’s signed on to End Citizens United’s Unrig Washington pledge to not accept corporate PAC donations, she’s made fighting the nefarious influence of big corporations and Wall Street a central part of her platform, and, this year, she has a real chance of defeating the Republican candidate, a MAGA real estate developer who founded a corporate firm for the real estate industry.
James talked with us about why the impossible choices her neighbors are facing have motivated her run for office and inspired her priorities for once she’s in Congress.
Democracy News: Why are you running for office?
James: I’m a mom. I’m a chaplain. I’ve served in the Iowa legislature. Over the last eight years I spent in the Iowa legislature, I’ve knocked on thousands of doors, and too many of my neighbors are making impossible choices because of the cost-of-living crisis that we’re facing right now.
There’s the mom who is making the impossible choice: Do I pay my utility bill, or do I buy my daughter a winter coat? It’s the dad making the impossible choice: Do I put food on the table or do we pay our rent? A rent increase at a mobile home community near me means someone is making the impossible choice: Do I pay my rent increase and keep my mobile home, or do I pay for my insulin medication and keep my foot?
My neighbors are asking themselves these questions in the wealthiest country in the world. We can all agree that’s not right.
Democracy News: How is political corruption affecting people in your district?
James: People are frustrated by politics. They’re frustrated by the partisan fighting, but they are deeply disgusted by the corruption we’re seeing in Washington.
Here’s a story that shows you how corruption is harming people: My first year in the Iowa legislature, Medicaid was privatized in our state. One of my constituents lost vital healthcare services, and I shared his story on the floor of the legislature. I called out by name Amerigroup, the company that was denying his care.
As soon as I was done with my speech, I got a request to speak to the lobbyist from Amerigroup. This lobbyist said to me, “Representative James, I know you’re new here. We just don’t do that here. We don’t just call out a company by name on the floor of the Iowa House.” My response was, “I don’t care what the norms of the Iowa legislature are. I care that my neighbor gets the health care that he needs and deserves.”
So, that’s the corruption that we see. And Iowans know me as someone who will stand up and fight for everyday working families in our state. Chaplains are trained to show up in people’s hardest moments. And right now, there are too many of my neighbors across this district who are experiencing hard moments because of their financial realities. Too many Iowans are living paycheck to paycheck. Too many Iowans are one healthcare emergency away from losing their home, and that’s because of corruption.
Democracy News: Americans rate corruption as a major problem. How is corruption an issue in your race?
James: My opponent, Joe Mitchell, is running on an “anti-corruption” platform when he is the epitome of the corruption we’re seeing in this administration. Joe Mitchell is a former legislator turned lobbyist. He’s a real estate developer who founded a lobbying firm for real estate developers, then spent a season in the Trump administration. When he was a state lawmaker, he voted to expand tax credits for real estate developers, and that further enriched his own real estate businesses to the tune of $2.5 million to further enrich his own business.
Mitchell also spent over $75,000, partying at Mar-a-Lago over the course of this campaign, and he wrote it off as a campaign expense. $75,000 is roughly what the median Iowa household makes in an entire year. He’s bragging about it. He’s taking selfies of himself in tuxedos at Mar-a-Lago when he is wining and dining DC elites.
Iowans are smart. They are going to be able to see through that. We are going to hold him accountable for that corruption.
For me and our campaign, having the endorsement and backing of the largest anti-corruption organization in the country, End Citizens United, is a way in which we are gaining trust with folks. I’ve been very public about not taking corporate PAC dollars; being willing to put my name on legislation that fights against the legislator to lobbyist pipeline; supporting banning stock trading for members of Congress; doing everything we can to overturn Citizens United.
Democracy News: What legislation would you prioritize when in Congress?
James: As a chaplain, you learn about people by seeing them in some of their darkest moments. That means you also learn what practically is not working in their lives. That’s what informs the way I think about policy.
We’ve had an influx of private equity and large out of state corporations purchasing mobile home communities across the state. I’ve worked on bipartisan legislation to fight against these private equity firms and protect people living in mobile home communities. The second I started putting forward legislation, we saw an influx of money coming from the Iowa Manufactured Housing Association to Republicans in the legislature, to try to influence votes.
Private equity firms are the wealthiest people in our country who are preying on some of the poorest people in our country. That’s not right. Watching people in power capitulate to these out-of-state corporations and private equity firms highlights the deep corruption in the state legislature and the federal government.
We can put forward federal legislation to hold these private equity firms and large corporations accountable. They’re applying for and getting low interest loans from the federal government under the guise of furthering affordable housing, when they’re doing the exact opposite and furthering their own profits at the expense of some of the most vulnerable people in our country. So, we need enforcement mechanisms that ensure that if corporations and private equity are engaging in predatory practices, we can claw back dollars. That’s just one thing we can do.
Meanwhile, we know that large corporations like Bayer are coming to the Iowa legislature and to the federal government to ask to be released from liability if someone gets sick from their product. In Iowa, we have some of the nation’s highest cancer rates. People are longing for someone with a moral compass and courage of conviction who will actually take on fights against these companies. I’m here for it.
Democracy News: With everything that’s happening, how are you coping?
James: I’m never at a loss for hope because I just look next door to my neighbor to see how resilient people are. That is an eternal source of hope for me.
I’ve been shaped by the parable of the good Samaritan. You know, the parable is about how someone’s hurting and harmed on the side of the road, and someone comes by, sees them, turns a blind eye, walks the other way without offering help. That, to me, is exactly what’s happening in Washington D.C. right now. People in positions of power see the problems and the challenges that everyday people are facing in our country, and they’re turning a blind eye.
What I love about this parable was how Martin Luther King Jr. talked about it. King said it’s not just our moral obligation to pick up the person hurting and harmed on the side of the road; it’s our moral obligation to fix the road.
King said that if we didn’t fix the road, the same thing would just continue to happen over and over again. When it comes to my faith, caring for my neighbor is not optional. That means that fixing the systemic issues that are causing my neighbors to be hurt and harmed in the first place is not optional. That means fixing our healthcare systems, funding our school systems, which give our kids their best chance at life. It’s making sure that people have economic opportunities in our communities. Going up against these corporations is fixing the road, and for me, that’s not optional.
Lindsay James and Tiffany Muller, president of End Citizens United, will be in discussion in Dubuque on Monday, September 14th at 6 pm. RSVP to attend here.
I wish you all the best