Amy Petersen Announces Run For Danielson’s Senate Seat

A Cedar Falls Democrat just announced her candidacy for the Senate District 30 special election, and it’s hard to imagine anyone with a better profile for public office.

Amy Petersen, a professor of special education and a labor activist, wrote on Facebook this morning that she will seek the party’s nomination to replace Jeff Danielson, who resigned two days ago.

She is a:

• Professor of Special Education at the University of Northern Iowa
• Cedar Falls native
• Disabilities rights activist
• First-time candidate
• Union activist and former executive board member for the UNI faculty union
• Researcher/writer on inclusive education and the challenges that African-American women with disabilities face in society
• Married to a pipefitter union member, who is also a labor leader
• Avid motorcyclist

Local Democrats will gather in the next week or two once a special election date is set to choose their nominee at a special convention. There will likely be other candidates who toss their name in, but it is hard to think of someone with a more compelling personal biography to hold this must-win seat for the Democrats.

Here is what Petersen wrote on Facebook:

“After receiving a great deal of encouragement from many fellow Democrats, I am announcing my decision to run for the Senate District 30. I did not take this decision lightly, and frankly, running for political office was the furthest thing from my mind.

I am a Cedar Falls native and I graduated from Cedar Falls High School and the University of Northern Iowa. I am a professor in the Department of Special Education at UNI and serve in numerous leadership roles across our campus. In addition, I work closely with our Iowa state Department of Education to improve educational opportunity for students with disabilities. I sometimes joke that I didn’t get very far in life—here I am living a mile from my childhood home, two blocks from my alma mater—but, it turns out I am exactly where I was meant to be. My professional, academic, and personal worlds have provided me with a wealth of experiences serving the Cedar Valley, UNI community, and our state of Iowa. My husband, Steve, grew up in Hudson. He is a union pipefitter. Together, we are strong advocates for education, labor, and ensuring the Cedar Valley continues to thrive.

by Pat Rynard
Posted 2/16/19