Meet the candidate: Jeff Reichman running for state senate D-42 seat

HENRY COUNTY - Jeff Reichman, a small-business owner and shift team leader at Roquette, had never considered a career in politics until just recently.

The Keokuk-native is currently running in the Republican primary against Nancy Amos for the Iowa State Senate District 42 seat, currently held by Rich Taylor (D).

Reichman, who studied and earned a business degree from Iowa Wesleyan University in 1993, went on to join the marine corps and later served two tours in Iraq before settling back in southeast Iowa in 2013. He continues to serve as a member of the reserve and will retire in April of 2021.

'I decided to run because when I came back to Iowa, I had very few opportunities. I've lived here and seen how companies were closing down, and I was tired of seeing storefronts and dilapidated buildings,” Reichman said.

Upon his return to Iowa, Reichman said he struggled to find employment opportunities and spent six months without a job.

'I came back and I'm a Lt. Colonel. I've been a staff officer and I was the director reporting to the base commander. I served at a staff level, basically running a base or small city and came back to Lee County thinking I would be set up very well to find a position,” he explained.

'I've been through it. I've been laid off and unemployed. I've experienced what people are experiencing in southeast Iowa,” he said.

A main focus of Reichman's platform is based in economic development and revitalizing business in southeast Iowa. Following his return to the region in 2013, Reichman quickly became involved with an economic development group, with which he served as a board member. In addition to working with economic development, Reichman also owns his own home inspection company.

'I wanted to help out southeast Iowa, and started attending Republican events and the next thing you know I'm volunteering to run for an office,” he explained.

The candidate added he 'never aspired toward [politics], never had any draw toward it,” but was 'tired of seeing southeast Iowa shrivel up and blow away.”

Reichman's first run for office was in the 2018 Midterms for the Iowa House of Representatives District-83, which went to Jeff Kurtz (D).

The candidate was approached to run for state senate after his initial campaign and was excited at the prospect of serving at a higher level.

'My goal is to get involved and network. We've got a lot of great people in southeast Iowa and I just want to help get everybody rowing in the same direction,” he said.

The candidate said he felt current leadership in the area 'has not furthered the economic ball” and hopes to change that by pushing for more funding for existing programs that promote careers in industry and manufacturing. Programs Reichman feels are beneficial include Gov. Reynold's Future Ready Iowa program as well as federal trade programs.

'We do have a lot of programs that I would like to see funded. To fund those programs, we need revenue, and in order to provide revenue, we need people to have jobs and a tax base contributing to that,” he explained.

Reichman falls along party lines for most issues. He said he does not Iowa become a sanctuary state and supports the overturned the state's Heartbeat Bill, which aimed to ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat was detected. He also believes the country should keep strict borders and disagrees with the move toward a universal health care system. The candidate said his main distinction from the party's platform is his views as a conservationist and his belief that military spending has become excessive.

As for what sets him apart from his competitor, Reichman said his 'experience and background” in economic development, as a marine corp and in the private industry 'puts [him] ahead.”

'Our views are very close, we have lots of very similar views on different issues. But I am one of the working guys down here and I feel I'm best suited to represent them. I've had experience at all those levels,” he said.