A Democrat candidate for U.S. Senate wants to be the “Face of Rural Iowa.” 

That’s what retired U.S. Navy Admiral Mike Franken told a room of 25 people Thursday night at the home of Gary and Mary Weaver in Rippey. He grew up in a town of 56 people and was the youngest of nine children. He spent nearly 40 years in military service. He said the Midwestern states should use ethanol production to feed growth houses, where garden crops would be raised for human consumption. Franken also wants to bring back the idea of a Sears home to help the housing issues in rural communities.

Franken talked about expanding the Affordable Care Act and not being a proponent of Medicare for all. He also believed that education needs to be fully funded for three to four-year-olds. And as a way to reduce college student debt would be to have graduates participate in a civil service project. He told Raccoon Valley Radio why he is running for Senate.

“I’m running princibly to unseat Trump-era Republicans. Because I believe their era of special interest that they have created a decisiveness in this state that has been detrimental to the rural population and small communities alike.”  

Franken is running against four other Democrats in the June 2020 primary election.