CLEAR LAKE – A Clear Lake woman who was actively seeking office has decided not to run for Iowa Senate this year, citing an unfavorable environment for “working women with young kids.”
According to a statement from Democrat Whitney Mixdorf of Clear Lake:
I have decided not to run for senate this year.
Our political system simply isn’t built for working women with young kids. There are not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything with traditional campaigning.
I am extremely proud of the campaign we ran in 2022, where even though we ran things a bit differently, we kept pace with the top ticket Democrats who poured a ton more resources into each vote. This shows that non-traditional campaigns can be effective and should be explored.
Running for office was always something I had to do alongside and with my family, never instead of. My most prized title is Mom and I will always choose my kids first.
Always.
Safety is also a big part of this decision. Disagreeing on political issues is OK — but threats and nasty bullying are not. I always want to believe the best of North Iowa, but we have experienced a lot of ugliness in the past two years. The political climate is at a flashpoint and we aren’t willing to expose our family to it any longer.
My heart is still in this fight and that will never change. I remain 100% committed to helping others and creating change within our community. For now, I will be focusing my time and talents on activism and organizing through the North Iowa Dems organization.
I will continue to use this space to fight for Iowa and I hope you’ll stay and fight with me. The future of Iowa is in the hands of regular people like you and I…
Let’s Go.
Iowa’s District 30 Senator is Republican Waylon Brown of Osage. Brown defeated Mixdorf for the seat back in 2022.
