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OTTUMWA, IOWA -- With the election just over two months away, candidates are hard at work campaigning.

KTVO sat down with Republican candidate for Iowa House District 81 Blake Smith Friday morning; he said that by holding meet and greets he has been able to really listen to constituents’ concerns.

One of the main concerns he’s been hearing is about education reform.

“Cutting out all the bureaucracy. We are paying so much money to the bureaucracy that run education that that money could be going to the teachers’ pockets and to the students’ hands for more hands-on learning. There’s so much we can do with education but so much money's being wasted on just the hierarchy,” said Smith.

Blake expressed that he is ready to serve the people, saying Iowans need a representative that will follow the constitution. He said his opponent Mary Gaskill defied her oath.

“Well the walkout was a big one.  We pay her to go there and stand her ground -- be a Representative, not to walk out. In the Iowa Constitution it says any act a legislator feels is indigenous to the public they can protest on it and that's how they are to protest. That's an oath of office she took and she just walked out.  Whether she doesn’t know that part of the Constitution or just doesn’t care is either way -- so she blatantly defied her oath,” said Smith.

Blake hopes to be the voice of the younger generation.