[music]

Speaker 1: You're with The Takeaway and Melissa Harris-Perry.

Melissa Harris-Perry: It's time for another installment of our 2022 midterm election series, SHElection! It's a partnership with the Center for American Women and Politics with support in part from the Ms. Foundation for Women.

Now, our SHElection! series is bringing you the stories of elections where women are vying for office against other women. Today we're heading to the Hawkeye state. In November, voters will choose who will serve Iowa as governor. Republican Kim Reynolds is a popular incumbent seeking reelection. She boasts an approval rating up over 50%, an endorsement from former president Trump, and she took a turn in the national spotlight, where she delivered the Republican response to President Biden's State of the Union address back in March.

[music]

Kim Reynolds: I listened as the governor of our state, as a mom and a grandmother of 11 who's worried our country is on the wrong track.

Melissa Harris-Perry: Reynolds has proven to be a fundraising juggernaut. At the start of the year, The Des Moines Register reported that governor Reynolds had broken the record for most cash on hand reported for a campaign for Iowa governor, nearly $4.8 million and that was back in January. Now, usually, that's the kind of advantage that typically deters challengers, but in this SHElection!, one woman stepped up.

Deidre DeJear: hi, I'm Deidre DeJear, democratic nominee for governor in the state of Iowa. I'm originally from Mississippi, that's where I was born. I went to high school and middle school in the state of Oklahoma and just came to Iowa seeking an education. What I often tell folks is the pathway that was made available for me to start a business while I was an undergrad, to start a nonprofit in undergrad, really just opened up a variety of doors for me. I learned who I was as a woman, I learned who I was as a professional, and I learned who I was as a citizen of my community.

Melissa Harris-Perry: DeJear won the Democratic primary with more than 99% of the vote, basically, because she was unopposed. Now, in politics when very few candidates seek to challenge an incumbent, it's usually because by all conventional wisdom, the incumbent appears to be unbeatable.

Ian Richardson: I think it's going to be tough. I am Ian Richardson, statehouse reporter with The Des Moines Register. Governor Reynolds, I think as of the last fundraising deadline had about 10 times the amount of cash on hand. She's pulling double digits. The last Iowa poll that The Des Moines Register conducted had had her up 17 points. It's definitely going to be a lot, and election analysts have this as a pretty safe Republican seat. It's going to be tough, but DeJear is hoping that the more she gets out there, she can bridge that gap.

[music]

Melissa Harris-Perry: But DeJear is not deterred.

Deidre DeJear: This is a real race. This go-round we have the overturning of Roe v. Wade. This go-round we also have the fight for education in this state. She's defunding our education system and more than 90% of our kids are enrolled in public schools. This go-round freedom is truly on the ballot. Iowans are raising their hand and they're saying, "We want to do something about it." I ran for Secretary of State back in 2018 and got nearly 600,000 votes, and so this is real. That's part of the discussion that we're having with Iowans all over the state. This is possible because their voice is incredibly important to this process, we just need them to use it

Melissa Harris-Perry: DeJear will have an opportunity to use her voice on Monday night. She's scheduled to debate incumbent Kim Reynolds. Here again is Ian Richardson of The Des Moines Register.

Ian Richardson: She had pushed for more debates hoping that she could get her message out there. Governor Reynolds, most people know who she is, most people know her policy, she's only agreed to one so far. The debate will be broadcast statewide. It's on our statewide public television station. Rather than just one market within the state, this will be broadcast to all viewers, so it'll give everyone an opportunity to see. Definitely what Deidre DeJear is hoping is that this will help more Iowans know who she is and know where she stands.

Melissa Harris-Perry: DeJear is fully aware of the opportunity this debate presents for her campaign.

Deidre DeJear: We asked for three debates, she only gave us one and it's an hour, and so I imagine I'll have 26 minutes to get everything I need to get out, and we're going to make that happen.

Ian Richardson: The highest issues were inflation and gas prices, which had been at the top of many Iowans' minds. I think if you talk to people they still are now. Also, another one of the issues that they saw a lot of importance was abortion that was at the top of everyone's minds after the Supreme Court decision. We've also had a state Supreme Court decision recently in Iowa that reversed a previous decision that's now opening the door to maybe some more restrictions here in the state.

Deidre DeJear: Oh, I've got many hours of preparation. There are so many topics that we could talk about in this state, but we're definitely focusing on the ones that we've been hearing Iowans talk about. When I talk about meeting people where they are, that is not just physically, that's also on the issues that matter to them.

My preparation is a part of knowing my record, what I've been able to do as a professional. I'm the only person in this race that has both corporate, nonprofit, small business, and government experience, and so we're bringing that to the table so people can understand that part of my life, but more importantly, we're talking about our vision for this state and what can happen, and my vision is inclusive of the voices that I've been hearing all over this state through the Iowa voter. We are not short of vision in this state, we need leadership that's willing to turn the lights on, and we have to make sure that that message is very, very clear.

Melissa Harris-Perry: Defeating a well-known and well-financed incumbent is a steep and possibly insurmountable challenge, especially for a relative newcomer to state politics. I asked DeJear has she received meaningful assistance from the National Democratic party?

Deidre DeJear: I'll be honest, the National Democratic party has a major focus on incumbent races and I am not an incumbent. Needless to say, I think that it should be incumbent amongst all of us to fight for freedom every opportunity that we get, especially when races are as close as this. This is a mobilizing state, and when we mobilize our voters, we perform.

Melissa Harris-Perry: This year, Black women are vying to win the governor seat in three states. If any or all of these women win office they could become the first Black woman ever elected governor in the United States, Stacey Abrams in Georgia, Yolanda Flowers in Alabama, and Deidre DeJear in Iowa.

Deidre DeJear: I became, in 2018, the first African American ever to be nominated by a major party for statewide office in Iowa and then did it again this year, the first Black individual ever running for governor on a major ticket.

Melissa Harris-Perry: In Iowa, the race for governor is also a SHElection!

Deidre DeJear: This is also in my state the first time two women are running against each other, so a lot of points of history here.

Ian Richardson: It'll be interesting to see how the race turns out.

Melissa Harris-Perry: Ian Richardson, statehouse reporter with The Des Moines Register.

Ian Richardson: I think you look at Deidre DeJear, she is an up-and-coming figure in Iowa's Democratic Party. She ran as Secretary of State four years ago. She's young. She had been really sought after during the caucuses as someone to be with, so she's definitely someone who's been on the rise in the state party.

Melissa Harris-Perry: Deidre DeJear says her own history-making campaign is rooted in the history of those who came before her.

Deidre DeJear: I come from a lineage of Black women who have been problem solvers. They have solved their problems by bringing people together that they may sometimes have not wanted to talk to, but here's the thing, they didn't have the luxury or the privilege to decide who they would and would not work with in order to accomplish their goal. That is the nature of our democracy and that is the nature of how I lead. It's not a matter of rule versus urban Black v white, this is about all of us.

Melissa Harris-Perry: DeJear's personal history has been marked by tragedy, loss, and resilience. Your mother passed away shortly after giving birth to your younger sister when you were just a child, just eight years old.

Deidre DeJear: Yes.

Melissa Harris-Perry: Now in 2022, we have more conversations about maternal mortality and particularly in places like Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, many of these southern states where after the overturning of Roe v Wade in the context of the Dobbs decision, there is a possibility that we may see an increase in these already horrifying numbers. Can you talk a little bit about the experience that you had as a child, young adult, and now as a candidate for governor but without your mom?

Deidre DeJear: Wow, I've never been asked that question that way before, without my mother. Hold on, Melissa. [silence] I can say it's not easy, but nothing in life is. The fact that my mother was a strong woman, a strong matriarch, when she died, it was a complete and total interruption in our family. What gives me the strength that I have right now, even though it may not sound like strength because Melissa's asking me these deep questions, but what gives me strength is what my father was able to do to overcome because my father was my age and his mother died when he was young, at the age of 12.

Here I was with a three-day-old sister and a four-year-old brother. My father took ownership of our lives in a way that allows me to be here today. He made sure I had access to mental healthcare counselors and workers in my school, he made sure I had access to a strong education system to prepare me for that. I can't imagine right now having three kids losing my husband and what that would do to me. That man has empowered me in ways that I could have never even asked or prayed for.

As I sit here today running for this office, I'm bringing that strength to the table. When I look at the fact that the Supreme Court wants to relinquish its duty to protect women to the states, I'm of the mindset the states have to be ready. These challenges are happening because our leadership is more focused on a crusade, and let's focus on protecting human lives in the state. We have to interrupt those types of cycles because we've been there before.

You've got women who are listening right now who have fought the fight so that women have the right to choose. Now here we are fighting it again, but we've got to. That's what I've learned from my father through the experience of my mother's death. You fight no matter what. You fight for good, you fight for the things that you care about. A part of this fight for us in this election cycle is showing up, believing in each other again because we've spent the last few years in disbelief for so many reasons. There is consistent damage being caused, and there is just this blind complacency that's happening on the other side that's not seeing women for who we are. That is no longer acceptable. It's undemocratic.

Melissa Harris-Perry: What difference does it make when women run for office?

Deidre DeJear: Oh, it makes a difference. [laughs] It makes a difference. When women run, we know their ability to bring people together, their ability to connect with communities. We are intent as women in doing that. I think that it provides a safe space for people to be able to talk about the things that matter to them. I've noticed that and a major difference in how folks interact with female candidates versus male candidates. If a little girl from Jackson, Mississippi who comes to Iowa by way of Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Buckle on the Bible Belt can get on the ballot as the first Black individual to run for governor in the state of Iowa, if that story is possible, all of our stories are possible.

When I filed my papers to get on the ballot to run for governor in this state, there is a picture of a woman by the name of Mary Church Terrell, a suffragette. When Mary Church was fighting for a woman's right to vote, it wasn't guaranteed that Black women were going to get that right, but it didn't matter to where she was going to put in the fight, she was going to put in the work. In fact, she inserted herself as suffragette at tables because there weren't spaces for Black women at that time.

As I was filing my papers to get on this ballot, here it was this woman who had fought for the right to vote, let alone me getting on the ballot to run for governor, because she did what she did, I'm able to run, and because I'm doing what I'm doing, 20, 30 years from now, there will be young women, who will be faced with challenges, who will be faced with difficulties. There will be communities of people who will be able to look on this 2022 year and know that people fought for freedom, people fought for what was right. That's why I'm trying to get folks all over this country to pay attention to this race because this race is not by any stretch of the imagination a long shot.

Melissa Harris-Perry: Our thanks to Ian Richardson of The Des Moines Register and Deidre DeJear, Democratic candidate for governor of Iowa. We did invite Governor Kim Reynolds to appear as a guest, but we didn't hear back from her campaign. Governor Kim Reynolds and Deidra DeJear meet in their first and only debate on Monday evening in Iowa.

Copyright © 2022 New York Public Radio. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use at www.wnyc.org for further information.

New York Public Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline, often by contractors. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of New York Public Radio’s programming is the audio record.