Independent candidates who are running for two of Iowa’s congressional seats say it’s time for voters frustrated by politics to build a movement.
Michael Bridgford, a financial advisor from the Quad Cities, is the independent candidate in southeast Iowa’s first congressional district where Democrat Christina Bohannan is challenging Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks. Bridgford said 2026 is “the moment” for independent voters. “Iowa is an independent state,” Bridgford said. “The ‘I’ in Iowa is for independent.”
Bridgford said the two major political parties “aren’t interested in actually solving problems” and he put his name of the ballot to provide an alternative. “People feel as though they’re not being represented, they’re not being heard and we’re going to change that this year,” Bridgford said. “That’s what we’re going to do.”
Dave Bushaw, a squash farmer from Hawkeye, is running against Democrat Lindsay James and Republican Joe Mitchell in northeast Iowa’s second congressional district. 2026 is “just the start,” according to Bushaw. “We are going to build an independent movement in here in Iowa in all districts and across this country in 2028, 2030 and 2032,” Bushaw said. “That’s a promise.”
Bushaw, who worked on Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, used the word “corrupt” to describe both Democrats and Republicans. “These two parties today answer to the same elite ruling class of corporate monopolies, tech oligarchs, and foreign agents,” Bushaw said. “They’re two wings of the same bird that feed corporate greed.”
Bushaw and Bridgford made their comments during speeches on the Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair.