Name: Rich Taylor, Democrat
Office/District: State Senate District 42
Hometown: Mt. Pleasant
Profession: Licensed master electrician, master HVAC technician, and master refrigeration mechanic
Why running for office: “You know, eight years ago when I started this I told everybody ‘Well, I’m kind of old, so I’ll go for two terms and I won’t promise you anything after that.’ But you know, I got here and the first four years it seemed like everybody worked together pretty much and both sides of the aisle — it wasn’t so much that there were Republicans and Democrats, it was more like there was just a bunch of people trying to do the right thing for most Iowans. I really enjoyed those four years.
“The next four years, under total Republican control, I just saw too many people getting hurt. It didn’t matter what, I could have the best idea since toast and since it was a Democrat idea, it just wasn’t going to be heard. It wasn’t even going to be discussed. So, that really disappointed me and I saw how many people that the Iowa Republican Party was now hurting rather than trying to be helpful to everybody. My wife goes with me, she’s my clerk and my best friend up there. We talked it over and I said I just can’t leave this way. I just can’t go knowing I was there while so many Iowans were hurt. I’ve got to go back and see if we can fix some of these really bad things that we did to a lot of hard-working people and a lot of poor people who just can’t defend themselves. I’ve got to go back and try to make a difference. I think I’ve worked for everybody and it doesn’t really matter to me what party you’re in there, I’m there to work for Iowans. I’m hoping that people still support me and hopefully I’ll be back next January.”
Facebook: Rich Taylor for State Senate
