GOP gubernatorial candidates weigh in on sexually explicit material being available to children at public libraries in Iowa

1. Should a book with such explicit content be allowed to be checked out to children by public libraries in Iowa?

2. Would you as governor support laws to block books with such adult content from being checked out by children in Iowa?

3. Does a public library (government institution) have a responsibility to ensure adult content like this does NOT end up in the hands of children?

4. What’s your message to librarians who defend them checking out materials like this to children as “freedom” and “anti-censorship?”

5. If libraries make books with adult sexual content like this available to minors, should they be defunded by the governments that fund them (city council, county supervisors, any potential state funding they may receive)?

6. Anything else you’d like voters to know about your stance on this issue:

Here are the responses from each candidate (if a candidate simply provided a statement, it will be included at the end):

Brad Sherman: “NO!”

Adam Steen: “Absolutely not. Under no circumstance should a minor have graphic, adult sexual material placed in their hands.”

Eddie Andrews: “No. Public libraries should never hand explicit sexual material to minors—period. These books belong in an adult-only section with age verification, exactly like we require for R-rated movies or alcohol. Anything less is a betrayal of parental trust and basic common sense.”

Brad Sherman: “YES!”

Adam Steen: “100%. Minors should never have access to explicit adult material, especially not in a public institution funded by taxpayer dollars. I will back legislation that makes that abundantly clear.”

Eddie Andrews: “Yes, 100%. I will proudly propose and sign legislation that keeps pornography out of the hands of children in taxpayer-funded libraries. Protecting kids from explicit sexual content isn’t partisan—it’s the bare minimum we owe Iowa parents.”

Brad Sherman: “YES!”

Adam Steen: “Yes. Public libraries have the duty to protect minors, not expose them to harmful material.” 

Eddie Andrews: “Absolutely. When a government institution takes tax dollars to operate a library, it has a duty to act in loco parentis for unaccompanied minors by not handing pornography to them. Allowing a 13-year-old to walk out with graphic sexual content violates that duty and erodes public trust.”

Brad Sherman: “Besides being morally bankrupt, such librarians are facilitating the grooming of children and are making these children more vulnerable than ever to predators and trafficking.”

Adam Steen: “Freedom and anti-censorship are not shields for handing explicit material to our children. Full stop. When those principles are twisted into excuses to expose children to adult content, that’s not freedom, it’s negligence, plain and simple.

I’ve proven that I won’t back down when our kids are at risk. I refused to allow the Satanists’ ritual in the State Capitol because it was harmful to minors. They’re suing me for it and I’d make the same decision again, every day.

Protecting our children isn’t complicated or controversial. It’s the right thing.”

Eddie Andrews: “As I am the person who authored Iowa’s original landmark Parents’ Rights Law, my message is simple: There is no ‘freedom’ that entitles an adult to give pornography to someone else’s 13-year-old daughter. This isn’t censorship—it’s child protection. If you believe librarians or any other profession, not parents, should decide when a child is ready for detailed sex scenes, you’re in the wrong profession. I stand with parents, not with the liberal talking points.”

5. If libraries make books with adult sexual content like this available to minors, should they be defunded by the governments that fund them (city council, county supervisors, any potential state funding they may receive)?

Brad Sherman: “Absolutely! Government should never and in no way facilitate this filth.”

Adam Steen: “Yes. If our taxpayer-funded institutions refuse to protect our children, then taxpayer funding should be reconsidered. Accountability matters.”

Eddie Andrews: “If a library insists on distributing explicit sexual material to children despite clear community standards and parental outrage, then yes—they have forfeited the privilege of unrestricted taxpayer funding. Funding should follow families and common-sense safeguards, not bureaucrats who think they know better than moms and dads. Hold them accountable at the local level first, and if necessary, at the state level.”

Brad Sherman: “The kind of thinking that defends making this kind of material available to a minor or who thinks government should fund such filth is the result of a deliberate strategy that was implemented almost a century ago to destroy the United States of America. Below are just 12 of the 45 goals laid out by the Communist Party in America. The entire list was read into the congressional record in 1963.

*Get control of the schools;
*Get control of teachers association;
*Soften the curriculum and use schools as a transmission belt for socialism;
*Infiltrate the media and gain control of key positions in radio, TV and motion pictures;
*Discredit the Bible;
*Eliminate prayer in schools;
*Infiltrate churches and replace revealed religion with ‘social’ religion;
*Discredit the family as an institution;
*Promote cohabitation instead of marriage;
*Get children away from parents into government programs;
*Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography;
*Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling it ‘censorship’ and violation of free speech and free press.

The entire list of 45 goals was read into the congressional record on Jan. 10, 1963. Specifically, they appear in Appendix pp. A34-A35 of the Congressional Record–House (Vol. 109, Part 1), introduced by Rep. Albert S. Herlong Jr. (D-FL) as an exhibit titled “Current Communist Goals” to illustrate the alleged long-term strategy of the Communist Party USA.

The partial list above shows the unfortunate progress they have made. As Governor, I will work to reverse the obvious progress made by the enemies of our nation and our state. I am one of the few that actually get the fact that we are at war!”

Adam Steen: “I will always put the safety and innocence of Iowa’s children first. Parenting is hard. We fight every day to protect our children from the harmful things out there and we don’t need our institutions undermining our values and exposing our children to harmful material.

When my own 4-year-old son was in school, his teacher wanted to purchase Jacob’s New Dress for the classroom. That was a wake-up call. We cannot allow this kind of material into our classrooms, our public libraries, or any taxpayer-funded space meant for children.

And yes, we all recognize this is a real issue—so it’s time for us to wake up and rise up. We need parents and community members running for school board, getting on library boards, showing up to meetings, and holding these institutions accountable. The state can only do so much at the local level. People must be active, alert, and engaged. We all have a job to do.

As governor, I will make sure our public institutions reflect the standards, common sense, and family values of the people of Iowa. I won’t waiver on protecting kids.”

Eddie Andrews: “I’m running for governor to make sure Iowa parents are in charge of their children’s upbringing—not librarians, not activists, not out-of-state pressure groups. No child in Iowa should ever be able to check out pornography with a library card while Mom and Dad are kept in the dark. This isn’t about banning books; it’s about basic decency and who gets to raise our kids. As long as I’m governor, Iowa will always side with parents over porn peddlers.”

Statement provided by Rep. Randy Feenstra: “As a father of four and a Christian, protecting our kids from radical ideologies and age-inappropriate content will be a top priority for me as Governor. It’s why I’ve also voted to ban men from playing in women’s sports, using women’s locker rooms or using women’s bathrooms. As Governor, I will work to keep age-inappropriate and sexually explicit books out of the hands of our kids and promote faith and family values.”

Statement provided by Zach Lahn: “Parents are rightfully tired of not being able to count on the things we once could – tired of having to stay on guard in places that were once safe.

But we need to be clear: there is a battle for the minds of our children. And there are forces that want unfettered access to them, using our public institutions as their battleground.

Those trusted to run our libraries must understand this truth.

No public school or library in Iowa should allow children access to explicit material. Period. Knowingly doing so must be a fireable offense. Age restrictions and a simple flag system at checkout would provide protection for our kids and certainty for the staff.

Our libraries should remain places where children discover great stories and authors who help shape their character.

It’s saddening when a safe harbor trusted for over a century now requires laws to protect children from explicit content.

Worse still, publishers and authors are suing to overturn these protections—demanding access to our children and insisting they know better than Iowa parents.

I’m running for Governor to defend our culture. I intend to be personally involved in the fight for Iowa’s children and Iowa’s institutions.”