Hinson, Mathis stick to their core issues on final day of campaigning
Mary Yacovone-Riepe asks Liz Mathis if she can get her anything. Coffee? Water? A margarita?
Mathis laughs and politely declines.
The 64-year-old Democratic state lawmaker from Hiawatha stopped at the Hy-Vee Market Grille in Marion as part of a Tuesday morning circuit greeting the coffee crowds at shops and diners in Cedar Rapids and Marion, reminding people to get out and vote.
Mathis is running to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, of Marion, in Tuesday’s midterm election for Iowa’s new 2nd Congressional District. Hinson is serving her first term in the U.S. House after unseating first-term Democrat Abby Finkenauer in 2020.
Hinson briefly waited in a line of about 17 people Tuesday morning to cast her ballot at her polling location at Lowe Park Arts and Environment Center in Marion.
“I think the message is going to be heard loud and clear today at the polls that Iowans are tired” and want a check on spending, energy and border policies being pushed by President Joe Biden’s administration and congressional Democrats, Hinson said.
She said House Republicans are committed to combating inflation and strengthening the economy. Their plan calls for cutting government spending, ramping up energy production and increasing funding to border enforcement and police officers.
“My goal is to make sure Iowa has a seat at the table,” said Hinson, who sits on the influential House Appropriations Committee. “And I think my role is going to be absolutely critical there, especially when it comes to oversight and accountability. We’ve tried to fulfill that even serving in the minority, while still delivering on Iowa’s priorities and getting those targeted investments here.”
Mathis started the day at 6 a.m. dropping campaign literature off at doors and reminding people to vote.
Many of those Mathis spoke with Tuesday morning at Hy-Vee in Marion had already voted – either early in-person, by mail-in absentee or at the polls earlier that morning.
“A couple say there are some long lines, but the lines go quickly,” she said. “It’s good to see people turning out to vote.”
Mathis, like Hinson, said she felt upbeat.
“We’ve let people know what our agenda is,” Mathis said.
That includes protecting a woman’s ability to make personal health care decisions by codifying abortion rights in federal law, increasing domestic energy production and releasing oil reserves to bring down oil prices, investing in new infrastructure, expanding high-speed internet access and protecting Social Security and Medicare from Republican proposals that would cut benefits.
“They know my background. I’m a farmer’s daughter,” Mathis said. “They know and they trust me. I was a journalist here for a number of years (as was Hinson), and I feel that relationship with many of the voters. And I’ve done a lot of work for them as a state senator over the last 10 years. It’s time to go to Washington (D.C.) and it’s time to do work for them there.
Yacovone-Riepe, 59, of Marion, said she’s met Mathis “numerous times” in the past to discuss animal-welfare issues, calling her “amazing” on the issue.
However, Yacovone-Riepe said she would not be casting a ballot for Mathis Tuesday after she gets off work, due their opposing views on abortion.
Yacovone-Riepe said she is “pro-life, period.”
“I go exactly to what the Bible says, and I vote according to the Bible – God’s word,” Yacovone-Riep said. “… That’s how I roll.”
She called the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision this summer overturning the constitutional right to abortion “marvelous.”
Yacovone-Riepe said voting on Election Day gives her more time to do her research on the issues and candidates and to pray on her decision.
“Liz Mathis is very nice, very sweet, very wonderful. I like her,” she said. “But, it comes down to my faith and it comes down to God. I’m going to be standing in front of him, and there’s no way I vote for taking away a life.”
Both Hinson and Mathis said they plan to spend the day thanking volunteers and spending some down time with family ahead of Election Night watch parties this evening.