Jackie Smith

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Running to represent Iowa District 7 in the Senate

Iowa 7th District Senate candidates: Jackie Smith (D) | Steven Stokes (R)

Election day is November 6, 2018. Unsure how or where to vote in this election? Scroll to the bottom of this page for Iowa’s 7th District voting information.

Quick biography on Jackie Smith

Jackie Smith was born and raised in Sioux City, Iowa. After graduating from North High, she studied at Briar Cliff College before getting her master’s degree from Baylor University. Smith has spent 34 years of her professional life as a speech pathologist, working with children to “help them find their voice” with Northwest Area Education Agency. In 2008, Jackie Smith was elected as a Woodbury County Supervisor and served the community until 2016.

Smith is running an incredibly localized grassroots campaign for the 7th District seat. For months she’s been knocking on doors and spreading the word about her candidacy one constituent at a time. She’s called out the current political leadership in Des Moines for failing “to deliver on their promises to raise family incomes across Iowa and to create more good-paying jobs. Iowans deserve better.” Smith says her highest priorities include creating high-paying jobs, supporting seniors and their caregivers through elder care programs and investing more resources into higher education and apprenticeships.

Jackie Smith endorsements (ongoing)

Emily’s List X

Jackie Smith platform on state & local issues

Elder care & caregivers

One of Smith’s highest priorities is supporting Iowa’s senior citizens. She says about 20% of the population is 60 years old and older, and elder care will become increasingly critical in the years ahead. She offers some ideas on how to prepare for the Baby Boomer generation to leave the workforce, such as expanding public-private partnerships like the Alzheimer’s Association’s HERO Project to better support seniors and their caregivers. Smith is also looking to promote careers in the long-term health care field by funding programs at community colleges for elder care.

In addition, Jackie Smith places heavy focus on caregivers, who are typically unpaid family members. Because caregivers do everything from cooking to handling finances and transporting seniors to appointments, Smith says programs should be put in place to better support them. She cites Elevate Aging in Iowa, as a good place to start in hearing from both formal and informal caregivers about where they need assistance most. Smith’s ideas for supporting elder care include expanding adult day services to relieve caregivers when necessary as well as backing the Care Act proposed by AARP.

Iowa job creation

Smith calls for Iowa to invest “more resources in our community colleges, job training and apprenticeship to ensure that more workers are ready to fill good-paying jobs today, tomorrow and next year. Our economic development plan cannot simply be based on corporate tax breaks.” Jackie Smith also points to low wages in Iowa as a deterrent for keeping a skilled workforce in state. She says in regards to jobs, especially health care professions, “efforts to increase pay must be explored,” to ensure Iowa remains competitive and can continue to attract skilled workers.

Jackie Smith Facebook post on her Iowa campaign page

Via Facebook @IowaSenateDistrict7

Minimum wage

While serving as Woodbury County Supervisor, Jackie Smith proposed raising minimum wage in the county from the current statewide rate of $7.25 per hour. She argued that increasing Iowa’s minimum wage threshold will allow the state to be more competitive, particularly against neighboring states like Nebraska whose minimum wages are higher. However, a mere one week after the proposal, a majority of the County Board of Supervisors killed her plan of creating a committee to investigate if the wage should be made higher.

Education funding

Jackie Smith advocates for investing more resources in higher education and apprenticeships to support a skilled workforce, saying “In the Iowa Senate, I will work to bring business to Iowa, but not on the backs of the working class and our most vulnerable citizens.” Arguing that corporate tax cuts aren’t doing the trick, Smith calls for measures that “restore the rights and dignity of working class families” and encourage worker training programs that make “Siouxland a great place to live, work and raise a family.”

Reproductive rights

On Jackie Smith’s official campaign Facebook page, she shares multiple posts that criticize Iowa Republicans’ efforts to limit birth control options for women and essentially outlaw abortion in the state. One particularly poignant piece comes from columnist Rekha Basu from the Des Moines Register, who argues that the GOP’s plan to ban abortions after 6 weeks would be “one of the most restrictive anti-abortion laws in the country.” Iowa’s governor signed the measure into law in May 2018, but the ACLU and Planned Parenthood immediately filed suit, arguing this ban disregards Roe v. Wade’s decision that all women must have the constitutional right to legal abortion.

Iowa election information

Iowa 2016 election results

In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump won Iowa by 10 points. In 2012, Barack Obama won the state by 5.8 points.

Where do I vote in Woodbury County Iowa

If it’s Election Day and you don’t know where to vote today, take a look at this pdf provided by Woodbury County to find your nearest polling location. If for any reason you’re unable to access that list, visit the Iowa Secretary of State website to search for voting locations based on your zip code. General Woodbury County voter information can be found on the county’s election page.

What do I need to vote in Iowa?

Smith offers “Won’t you be my neighbor?” trainings for how to approach voters while knocking on doors.

In order to vote in Iowa, you must bring a government-issued ID with you. Iowa’s new voter ID law went into effect this past primary season, and you can view a list of acceptable ID’s here.

More ways to support Jackie Smith

Visit her official campaign site

Donate to Smith’s campaign

Like her page on Facebook @IowaSenateDistrict7

Examples of hashtags when talking about Smith

#iowapolitics

#iapol

#PinkWave

Shari Rose is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles. Follow her on Twitter @blurredbylines or like Blurred Bylines on Facebook. Women Running For Office Project posts ≠ endorsements.

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I created Blurred Bylines in an effort to bring stories from marginalized perspectives into the national conversation. As a former copy editor at the largest newspapers in Arizona and Colorado, I’ve seen first-hand the potential of accurate and accessible information to change minds and affect national policy.

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