Mike Franken. (photo supplied by Franken.)
Retired admiral Mike Franken says he raised more than $300,000 in January in his bid for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate.
Franken says he has raised more than $750,000 in individual donations since launching his campaign last October and says that is a sign Iowans are tired of the divisiveness in government and this country.
“I see people wanting answers, they’re wanting action, they’re wanting us to get along better, so even within the family structure, people are getting along better. And that there’s more of a hope for the future in the state of Iowa. There’s also a sense in Iowa that we have lost some of that which has made us unique in the United States,” Franken says.
Franken is from Sioux County and has a home in Sioux City. He says both Democrats and Republicans need to find ways to compromise on issues like President Biden’s build back better bill, which recently failed without support from all Democrats in the Senate.
“But what I think Joe Biden will do now is back up. He’ll segment the build back better plan and other initiatives into more bite-sized pieces. There’ll be more of a compromise on those pieces and a more bipartisan approach. And I would hope the Republicans will come to the table and work to do something that is good for all Americans,” he says.
Franken says one of the things he likes in the bill is expanding the electrical grid. “Iowa is in a great situation here to be central to having the most reliable, least expensive electricity in a carbon tax environment in the United States. That will be a huge boost to manufacturing in the state,” Franken says.
Franken served in various policy-making, strategy, and planning roles including Chief of Legislative Affairs for the Department of the Navy. He defends Biden, saying no one president has ever been responsible for a major swing in fuel prices and is optimistic inflation will come down and the economy will turn around this year:
“There’s supply chain problems that are significant causes to inflation. There are treaty manufacturing issues associated with the delivery of technical goods — there’s a host of issues,” Franken says. “There’s also a sense that the interest rates have been too low for too long.”
Franken retired from military service as a three-star admiral in 2017.
(By Woody Gottburg, KSCJ, Sioux City)
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