Pastor Brad Sherman, a Republican from Williamsburg, says he’s running for governor because there’s been an erosion of constitutional rights in Iowa, including the business closures and other limitations Governor Reynolds ordered six years ago at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As governor, I’m never going to let that happen again. You know, we’re not going to shut down our state,” Sherman said. “What happened during COVID crippled our economy. It was just a bad thing, so we’re still recovering from that.”
Sherman says if he’s elected governor, he could take take executive action to reverse an Iowa Utilities Commission decision. If Summit Carbon Solutions gets permits from other states along the proposal pipeline route, the commission said Summit can seize properties from Iowa landowners who’ve refused to grant voluntary easements. Sherman said the pipeline is a private project and does not qualify for that eminent domain authority. “It would be good to have that clarified through the legislature,” Sherman said. “I would like to see that happen, but an executive order could certainly fix that on day one.”
Sherman served one term in the Iowa House and is competing against four other Republicans for the party’s nomination for governor. “I tell you, probably the best thing that sets me apart is I was the first guy that got in this race. I actually got in this race before our current governor announced said she wasn’t going to run…I proved that I would stand up against the status quo,” Sherman said during a recent interview on KICD in Spencer. “Everybody else got in after she said she wasn’t going to run, when they saw an open seat.”
Sherman launched his campaign in February of last year.
(Reporting by Anthony Gonzalez, KICD, Spencer and Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson)