Tim Borchardt runs for U.S. House seat

Tim Borchardt spent much of his youth in Washington, Iowa, and now he hopes to represent southeast Iowa in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Borchardt is a Republican running for the U.S. House District 2 seat currently held by Democrat Dave Loebsack.

Borchardt was born in Trimont, Minnesota. His dad, being a turkey farmer, earned the nickname 'Turk.” When Tim was 6, the family moved to Washington, Iowa, where 'Turk” found a job working at Northup King Seed Company.

'He was a big shot in the seed business,” Tim recalls.

The family lived in the country between the four corners and West Chester. Tim's mother ran a bridal shop aptly named 'Bridal Shop.” He graduated from Washington High School in 1978.

'In my early 20s, I decided I would check on the green grass anywhere else, and after a couple of years, I realized it wasn't so green,” he said. 'Having been exposed to bigger towns, when I came back to Iowa, I felt that Iowa City was the best choice. It was close to my family in Washington, and yet not so small that the sidewalks were rolled up every night at 8 o'clock.”

Tim has lived in Iowa City for the past 30 years, where he has a wife and two children, ages 9 and 11. He works in retail at a Cash Advance Center.

Political life

Borchardt said he's been a Republican basically his whole life, but ironically his father was a staunch Democrat. Tim jokes that all he had to do was mention the name 'Bush” and his dad would 'froth at the mouth.” How, then, did Tim become a Republican?

'I liked Ronald Reagan,” he said. 'I thought Reagan had a positive message, and it won be over.”

Borchardt said the issues he is most passionate about revolve around the budget and particularly the deficit. He also feels strongly about the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

'If you're a law-abiding citizen, you should have the right to keep guns,” he said. 'I'm not a hunter because I'm not a good shot. I keep guns because they belonged to my grandfather. We have a right to protect ourselves from others and from the government.”

Borchardt said he questions the wisdom of the current response to the coronavirus, particularly orders that shut down businesses.

'It's surprising to see how many people were willing to give away their rights in the blink of an eye,” he said.

At the same time, Borchardt acknowledged that the 'most congested places” might have had no other choice than to shut down to stop the virus's spread. He just hopes that the government merely 'recommends” that businesses close, as opposed to shutting them by force.

'If you owned a business in a county with no reported cases [of COVID-19] and the government shut you down, how would you feel about it?” he asked. 'There has to be a good balance. We should do what our parents taught us as kids, which is to wash our hands, cover our cough and stay away from sick people as best you can.”

Borchardt said the coronavirus is preventing him from meeting constituents in person, and that he's had to do all his campaigning over the phone or online. At the same time, he said his competitors in the race are in the same boat, so he doesn't think that fact will end up hurting him. Forums that were planned prior to the June 2 primary have been canceled.

Borchardt also shared his views on a number of other political issues:

Immigration: 'Immigrants should be welcome as always, provided they will not burden our communities.”

Health care: 'Let's investigate why the prices [of health care and prescription drugs] are set where they are. I will get to the bottom of this and report back to you.”

Abortion: 'I am pro-life. An unwanted child should be prevented, not aborted. There is dignity in the human person to their last day, regardless of their medical condition.”

College: 'The federal government should loan money to the colleges, who then loan to the student. Both would be invested in the success of the student and both would be responsible for repayment.”

Deficit: 'We need to limit the growth of government to 3-4 percent annual until we grow ourselves to a balanced budget.”

Term limits: 'Both the House and Senate elected officials should be limited to 12 years of consecutive service.”

Military: 'We don't need our troops stationed all over the world. We have technology that allows us to see what is going on and the ability to get to the problem in short order. Bring our troops home.”