Education has motivated Rep. Sue Cahill’s private and political life

Sue Cahill is dedicated to education and representing the voices of Iowans in the Iowa House.

Sue Cahill, the retired educator from Marshalltown who represents Iowa House District 52, first got involved in politics when she advocated for local students to have access to the same facilities and opportunities.

“I worked on a grassroots campaign to pass a bond that would combine the two middle schools and put all the fifth and sixth graders together, and then all the kids for the middle school would be in one location,” she said in an interview with Iowa Starting Line. “Same opportunities for all. Same equipment, same facilities.”

From there, Cahill got involved in the Marshalltown Education Association and learned more about how to improve education, not just for individual schools, but for all students. She continued to serve—in the education association and on the Marshalltown City Council.

Now, Cahill serves as a representative for House District 52 in the Iowa Legislature. She was first elected in 2020 in a similar Marshalltown-based district.

In office she serves on the Education, Education Reform, Veterans Affairs, and Administration and Rules committees.

When she talks to voters, Cahill says most of them list education and reproductive rights as their biggest issues.

Cahill voted against the near-total abortion ban, the school voucher bill, and the bill that restructured how Area Education Agencies (AEAs) are run and funded. Those agencies provide services and supports for students with disabilities so those students can get an education.

“When that was happening, when we were debating those bills, 91% of all of the thousands of emails that I got were against the voucher program,” Cahill said. “And yet I know other representatives were getting the same emails because they had us all on the list and not all of them followed what their constituents were asking for.”

As a former teacher and school librarian, Cahill brings her experience of how classrooms work to the Capitol and uses that to try to shape education policy.

While legislators debated SF 496, the bill that bans some books in schools, for example, Cahill spoke up about the process every school has for handling parent complaints. But the law passed anyway.

“When leaving there, it just felt like, ‘well, I failed, but I’m not going to stop here,’” she said. 

Because Republicans have the majority in the legislature, they frequently vote down the bills and amendments Democrats propose.

It’s discouraging, Cahill said, but it can’t stop Democrats from speaking up.

“Even on days when we know how a vote is going to come out before we even start the debate, it is still so important that we … get up and state our opposition to whatever issue it may be, that we try and represent the people in our constituencies and in our state who will disagree with the majority party,” Cahill said.

She said balancing the power in the legislature is the best solution to the issue, and it would result in more legislation that actually works for Iowans.

“When [Republicans] have to come to more consensus within their caucus and then have consensus with the Democrats, I think we’ll get to a stronger sense of collaboration in trying to find what’s best for Iowans,” she said.

Cahill said she’s proud of her record of speaking up for her constituents. Her opponent, David Blom, is a newcomer to politics. Some of the attack ads, she said, misrepresent her record by taking votes out of context.

One example is a vote on teacher pay increases, which were lumped in with the AEA bill.

“But in the House we had taken those two bills apart and voted on teacher salaries separately, which I supported, and the AEA program separately, which I did not support,” Cahill said.

Voters frequently tell her they don’t believe the ads because they know her record and that she’s been living in and advocating for Marshalltown for a long time.

“I’m happy to talk with anyone,” Cahill said. “One of my bigger things that I try and do is listen to folks, and if you have a concern, you have an area that you want to make better for you and your family, I’m certainly going to listen, and try and find a way to make that happen if we can.”

Sue Cahill at a glance

Name: Sue Cahill

Position: Iowa Representative for District 52

Residence: Marshalltown

Education: Buena Vista University, Graceland University

Experience: former teacher, Marshalltown City Council, Marshalltown Education Agency

Family: Six sons, three grandchildren

What she likes to do with free time: quilting, gardening, play with her grandkids