Todd Prichard
One of the five Democrats running for governor will be off the campaign trail for three weeks and participating in military exercises in eastern Europe.
Todd Prichard, a state representative from Charles City, is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. He leaves Sunday for the “Saber Guardian” exercise in Bulgaria.
“I am a chief for distribution management,” Prichard said, “in charge of a small group of soldiers that keeps accountability and oversees the flow of equipment and supplies throughout the theater of operation.”
Prichard joined the U.S. Army in 1996 when he was a junior in college. Prichard is now 42 years old and he’s planning to retire from the Army Reserve at the end of the year.
“I’ve had the opportunity to be deployed five times overseas now with this upcoming mission to Bulgaria, including a time in Iraq,” Prichard said during an interview with Radio Iowa, “and it’s given me a real perspective on dealing with people and leading and being responsible for the health and welfare of a large number of people.”
Prichard will return to the campaign trail in August, to promote his “50-50 in 5” goal. “To create 50,000 jobs paying over $50,000 a year over the next five years while I’m governor,” Prichard said. “You know, we’re not satified with just bringing low paying jobs to the state. We want to bring high-quality, good-paying jobs to all parts of the state.”
Prichard said he’ll lay out more policy details when he returns in August. Military rules prohibit Prichard from campaigning while he’s on active duty. His staff also will be prevented from updating the campaign website, for example.