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Candidate Christina Bohannan visits Fairfield
Andy Hallman
Aug. 2, 2022 11:47 am
FAIRFIELD — Democratic candidate Christina Bohannan stopped in Fairfield Friday during a series of campaign events through southeast Iowa.
Bohannan is seeking election to Iowa’s 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, now occupied by Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks. Bohannan met with supporters in a park shelter Friday evening in Chautauqua Park, on the east side of Fairfield. There, she was introduced by fellow Democrat Mike Heaton, who announced his run for District 87 in the Iowa House of Representatives.
Heaton told the crowd assembled in the park that Bohannan has what it takes to be a great leader for Iowa. He said the most pressing issue of the day was creating an environment where young people raised in Iowa will want to stay to raise families of their own.
Bohannan is a law professor at the University of Iowa, and is also a member of the Iowa House of Representatives, serving the 85th district. She began her remarks Friday by talking about her background, including her youth. Her dad was a construction worker, and her family was of modest means. She said one of the happiest days of her life was when the family moved from a single trailer into a double-wide trailer.
One of the turning points in her life was the day her father suffered a medical emergency, and as a result could no longer work or get health insurance. She said the incident was a reminder to her that “bad things can still happen to good people.”
“My family needed Social Security and Medicare to survive,” she said.
Bohannan recalled the important role that public education played in her life, and said it “meant everything to me.”
“I owe my life to my teachers,” she said, crediting them with her early interest in the law. She said they made her memorize the preamble to the U.S. Constitution.
Bohannan touched on a number of problems she hopes to address if elected to the U.S. Congress. She talked about a single mother she met who has four children, but works at a job with no sick leave and no pension. She said Congress has to be better about looking out for people like her.
“We need to strengthen unions, which are all about making sure that people who work hard get a fair shot,” she said.
Bohannan addressed concerns over inflation, saying that it was neither the fault of Republicans nor Democrats, but instead was caused by the COVID pandemic and Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. She chided Miller-Meeks for her recent vote against a bill to ban “price gouging” at the gas pump, her vote against a bill to subsidize U.S.-made semiconductor chips, and her vote against an infrastructure bill that Sen. Chuck Grassley voted for.
Democratic candidate Christina Bohannan speaks to a crowd assembled in a park shelter at Chautauqua Park in Fairfield Friday, July 29. (Andy Hallman/The Union)
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
Democratic candidate Christina Bohannan stopped in Fairfield to meet with supporters on Friday, July 29. (Andy Hallman/The Union)
Democratic candidate for Iowa House Mike Heaton introduces Christina Bohannan during an event Friday, July 29 in Fairfield’s Chautauqua Park. (Andy Hallman/The Union)