HAWKEYE, IOWA – Working-class organizer and folk musician Dave Bushaw announced today that he is running for Congress in Iowa’s 2nd District as an independent candidate determined to put working people first and break free from a corrupt two-party political system that has left them behind.
A lifelong Iowan and one of the youngest self-made farmland owners in the country, Dave has lived the struggle of the working class and seen the cost of political failure up close.
Born and raised in West Union, he worked the fields and factory floors before he could vote, later traveling the country as a folk and labor musician playing for striking workers and organizing communities.
“I’m running because both parties walked away from the people who built this country,” Dave Bushaw said. “There’s the Republican wing and the Democratic wing, but they are both part of the same bird that feeds the corporate class. Politicians let corporate greed gut our main streets, poison our rivers, and turn neighbors against each other while they bootlick for donations and power. It’s time to take that power back and put it in the hands of the WORKERS who keep this country alive.”
Bushaw’s campaign grows from the same work he’s done organizing across Iowa. He’s fighting for universal healthcare that keeps families healthy, unions that give workers real power, wages that match the cost of living, and investment that rebuilds rural towns from the ground up.
He has spent years fighting for accountability and transparency in local government, leading Midwest operations for United Today, Stronger Tomorrow—an effort that secured hundreds of millions of dollars for Iowans through the COVID-19 Recovery and Infrastructure Law funds.
“I’ve worked with farmers, nurses, Kwik Star clerks, truckers, and teachers who don’t care about party lines; they care about being able to afford a doctor and keep their town alive,” Bushaw said. “I’m not here to tow a line or sell soap for a party with a new buzzword every season. We’re going to win by proving that community still beats corruption, and when everyday people stand together, no machine in Washington can stop us.”
The campaign also released its official launch video this morning, outlining Bushaw’s platform and message to voters across Iowa’s 2nd District.