On the ballot

MARENGO — Dean Fisher was born and raised in Tama County. He’s a fifth-generation farmer and lives on a Heritage farm his great-grandparents settled in 1852.

The Republican is running for re-election to Iowa’s House District 53, representing Poweshiek and Tama Counties, against Democrat Tommy Hexter, of Grinnell.

Fisher graduated from DeVry Institute of Technology and spent 30 years in Chicago, Detroit and Buffalo, New York in the electronics industry.

In 2004, he returned to Iowa where he farmed with family, at one time raising 120 head of cattle.

Fisher retired from farming in 2014.

Fisher was first elected to the Iowa House of Representatives in 2012; he is now serving his fifth term.

Fisher said he’s proud of many things he’s helped accomplish in the State of Iowa, such as cutting taxes. “That was one of the issues I ran on,” Fisher said.

The Legislature has finally passed a heartbeat bill, which the pro-life candidate advocated for, and has addressed election integrity and education choice.

Fisher was lead sponsor of the Safe At Home bill which provides a confidentiality program for victims of abuse, he said. It was implemented about nine years ago.

Fisher is currently trying to strike gender identity from Iowa’s civil rights code. He objects to males using women’s restrooms and participating in girls sports.

“We’ve dealt with it at the school level, which is good, but we haven’t dealt with it in all the public spaces,” said Fisher.

Forest City’s YMCA was forced to allow men in the women’s locker room this year because of the gender language in the civil rights code, said Fisher. “That’s [happening] across the state. I believe in order to deal with that we’ll have to strike that in the Code.”

The language was changed in 2007 when Democrats controlled the Iowa Legislature, though some House Republicans also voted in favor of the change.

Fisher said he’s not afraid that his pro-life stance will affect his election.

“The Democrats want (abortion) to be a major issue, but it’s not,” said Fisher. He’s been elected in 2014, 2018, 2022 and has beaten pro-choice candidates.

District 53 voters are either solidly behind him or don’t consider abortion a big issue, Fisher said.

The heartbeat bill was actually a compromise, said Fisher. It doesn’t ban abortions until a heartbeat is detected.

Fisher is also confident in his education stance. The Education Saving Account allowed parents of certain income brackets to send their children to any accredited school and receive State funding for that student.

“Parents can direct … funds to the accredited school of their choice,” said Fisher. Previously State aid based on enrollment was given only to public schools.

“By 2025, it’ll be available to all families,” said Fisher. There will be no income constraints.

The Legislative changes to Area Education Agencies has been “horribly represented,” said Fisher. “All the money …. is still available for educational purposes,” he said.

The House didn’t cut funds to AEAs, said Fisher. That’s “totally false.”

“Normally the money automatically flowed through the school,” Fisher said. The school had no control over the funds directly.

The Iowa Legislature made a portion of those funds “stop at the school,” said Fisher. Schools can spend the money for services themselves, but they also have the option to spend it on services from the AEA.

The Legislature also removed the compliance and oversight portion of the funding that was giving $10 million to the Dept. of Education,” Fisher said. Now that money stays with the AEA.

The House is not currently in session, but Fisher is looking ahead to the next session.

“The bill dealing with gender identity is one that I’ll file,” Fisher said.

He’ll also work on a grant-funding program to deal with abandoned school buildings that are eye sores and dangerous. The grant program will help pay for demolition or development of the unused buildings.

“I think I’m a common-sense conservative,” said Fisher. His broad background gives him a spectrum of experience that makes him relatable to his constituents, he said.

(“On the Ballot” is a Hometown Current series profiling candidates in Benton, Iowa and Poweshiek Counties. Articles will run as candidates are interviewed. Candidates who do not respond to requests for interviews will not be included in the series.)