One of the stranger things to happen during local elections in Iowa this year was seeing Rep. Jon Thorup (R-Knoxville) write a letter endorsing Dr. Ann Fields for school board.
Fields was Thorup’s Democrat opponent in the race for the Iowa House.
“Recently, Ann told me that she is running for the school board, and she asked for my vote and for my support,” Thorup wrote. “She has both.”
Democrats and Republicans have vastly different views on education policy, but Thorup said the recruitment and retention of district employees is an issue he agreed strongly on with Fields.
Before running against Thorup for the Iowa House, Fields said she made several trips to Des Moines to oppose legislation on issues such as collective bargaining, sanctuary cities and abortion limitations. According to the Journal Express, each time she felt ignored by Republicans.
“They were gonna do what they wanted to do,” she told the Journal Express. “The only way to stop them was to not go up and be an activist and have a march, but to get elected so we would have a Democratic majority in the House.”
During her run for Iowa House, education was one of her main issues. She said she was concerned about state aid to public schools and support for state universities.
At the time of the Iowa House race, Fields had been a board member of Iowa’s Family Planning Council for 10 years and said she supports funding for Planned Parenthood. She also said she supported increasing the minimum wage to between $12 and $15 per hour.
Fields was not elected to the school board.
