On Sunday, Democrat Deidre DeJear tweeted out a request for followers to retweet if they’d like to see Iowa elect the first black woman governor in history of the country in 2022.
She added she is ready to be that governor.
Personally, even if I was someone considering voting for DeJear, it wouldn’t be because she’s a black woman. It would be because I believed she is the most qualified person running for the job.
Her gender and her skin color would have literally nothing to do with my decision to support her.
Democrat State Rep. Ras Smith is a black man running for governor. One day after DeJear’s identity-politics tweet, Smith’s campaign sent out a fundraising email that seemingly took a shot at DeJear’s tweet.
“As a black man running to be Iowa’s next governor, I’m not setting out to make history — but I do plan on making a difference,” the email said.
The rest of the email was a story about Smith’s upbringing and how his parents raised him.
It was a much more meaningful message than “vote for me because I’m black and I’m a woman.”
Regardless of policy differences, I appreciate Smith’s substance over DeJear’s identity politics.
