Todd Prichard Launches Gubernatorial Bid For “Forgotten Iowans”

May 17, 2017

Speaking in a legislative conference room at the Statehouse just down the hallway from the office he hopes to soon occupy, Todd Prichard told supporters and the media he would campaign for “forgotten Iowans” as he launched his official gubernatorial bid. He kicked off his announcement tour Tuesday morning in a Charles City coffee shop packed with dozens of local backers. He later held press conferences in Cedar Rapids and Des Moines, and has ten more events across the state planned for over the next week (see full list below).

“For years we have watched as the Branstad and Reynolds Administration has taken care of big corporations and the wealthy, while leaving Iowa’s working people behind,” Prichard said in Des Moines. “Nowhere is that division more deeply felt than in small towns like mine of Charles City and the working-class neighborhoods like the ones I grew up in Davenport and other cities around the state. In so many ways, this has become the ‘forgotten Iowa.’ I know the ‘forgotten Iowa’ because it is where I’m from and where I live now.”

Prichard unveiled an introductory video yesterday morning on social media, which featured him and his wife Ann speaking about living a simple, small-town lifestyle. It also laid out his life story of growing up in a blue-collar Davenport neighborhood, joining the Army and serving in the legislature.

“I think that sense of responsibility is something he has – I find it endearing, I find it maddening sometimes,” Ann Prichard says in the video. “But it is who he is.”

Reaction in Iowa political circles were positive. While the video didn’t present the high-energy vibe that Nate Boulton’s did, it painted a very authentic picture of Prichard’s personality, and gave off the feel of a candidate who could relate to rural and working-class voters the party badly needs to win back. And the scene of his wife and children huddled around a small kitchen table seemed to contrast – whether intentionally or not – with Andy McGuire’s morning routine in a much fancier-looking home.

In his roll-out speeches, Prichard highlighted his plan for free community college, which would cost around $8 million and require graduates to stick around in Iowa for several years.

“Access to public education means opportunity for all Iowans,” he said, noting that his wife has been a public schoolteacher for over a decade.

He also spoke about the need for better mental health services, and noted how in his job as a part-time county prosecutor, he often had to help people find mental healthcare around the state.

“When I’m governor, the days of ignoring the middle class are over,” Prichard promised, with a delivery style that seems to be slowly improving over time as he campaigns. “The days of kowtowing to political donors is over. The days of giveaways for corporate America is over as well.”