Occupation: Farmer
District: House 64
Twitter handle: @hort4cy
Facebook address: facebook.com/ChadIngelsIA
Education: BS Horticulture from Iowa State, MAg Professional Agriculture from Iowa State
Why did you decide to run for office?
I have been interested in state government for a long time and ran in the Republican primary for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture in 2018. During that race, I emphasized my experience in water quality and soil health issues coming from nearly 20 years of work on watershed improvement projects with Iowa State University Extension. Additionally, with my 23 years of experience as a school board member of West Central Community School in Maynard, I have seen how legislation and the resulting Department of Education interpretation impacts local districts. I also have two children who have intellectual disabilities and understand the challenges families have in helping their children with extra needs succeed. I can offer a different perspective in the legislature in regard to these and other issues as we work to make Iowa an even better place to live and work.
What do you hope to accomplish?
I want to work within the legislature to strengthen opportunities for rural Iowans that bring people back to small towns. We have great small schools that educate our children. Our young adults then go off to college and most don’t come back, some due to choice, but often time due to lack of opportunity. We need to find ways to encourage and support innovation and entrepreneurism that builds our rural economy.
What would you like the voters to know?
I have been married to Tammy for almost 28 years and am a dad to three children. I have lived in the district my whole life and have tried to be an active participant in the community. I will focus on being available to constituents and will listen to all sides of an issue before voting on what is best for northeast Iowa.
What experiences have prepared you to serve this district in the legislature?
In addition to my local involvement, I have had some diverse state-level experiences that provide me with connections to people across different areas of state government. I served five years on the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission, overseeing the regulatory side of the Department of Natural Resources. I also served four years on the Iowa Association of School Boards board of directors, helping to guide that organization’s efforts to better support schools. Additionally, I currently do some work for the Iowa Nutrient Research and Education Council, as they seek to measure the progress of Iowa’s Nutrient Reduction Strategy.
IFR Notes: Back in March Iowa Field Report wrote about Representative Bruce Bearinger. Here is an excerpt from that article.
Bearinger was first elected in 2012 to represent District 64. The district is a top target for Republicans in 2020. In 2016, Donald Trump carried the district by 13 points. In 2018, Governor Kim Reynolds took the district by 5.
You can find Representative Bearinger’s Facebook page here.
A list of all of the pages that he “likes” on Facebook can be found here. Most are innocuous and expected for a Democratic legislator. He subscribes to at least five pages that are focused on anti-Trump content. Their titles are the Anti-Trump Army, Expose Trump, Impeach Trump, Trump Sucks, and Fight Trump. While it might not be surprising for a Democratic legislator to hate Trump, it is noteworthy if they subscribe to content that categorizes their constituents as Nazis and members of the Ku Klux Klan. The page called Donald Trump Is Not My President, liked by Representative Bearinger, does just that.
That covers most of what we had to say. The district intersects two swing counties, Buchanan and Fayette. Both voted for Obama twice before supporting Trump in 2016.
As the (un)official news outlet of the Cyclone State, we are thrilled to see a candidate like Chad Ingels. The district numbers look good, the dem candidate is weak. A conservative candidate like Ingels is well-positioned to do well this fall especially with such a great twitter handle, @hort4cy.
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/DMP/925047.pdf