OTTUMWA, IOWA -- Wapello County Republicans chose between Blake Smith and Rick McClure as their candidate to face Democrat and current State Representative Mary Gaskill Tuesday.
Smith was the winner in the race, winning 75% of the vote.
Smith told KTVO Wednesday afternoon that one of his platforms is for lawmakers in Iowa to follow the constitution more closely.
“Constitution, get that re-aligned; that back with the individual income tax. Education, the same thing, get that back to the intent. Infrastructure, we would have more funding, it would be much more effective once we got it back into the constitutional bands. That would be what I would focus on and what I would push both the house and senate to do as well,” stated Smith.
Smith also believes that current representation in Wapello County does not represent everyone.
“We need a representative who represents the entire district, not just one party. Even if you don’t agree on everything all the time, we need a representative that represents Republicans, Democrats and Independents,” stated Smith.
Smith’s primary opponent, Rick McClure, e-mailed a statement to KTVO Tuesday evening saying, “I ran a very clean campaign. I did not let my family, my employer, my teammates, or my standards down.”
McClure also expressed a desire to see Iowa move to an open primary process.
You can view all of the results of the Iowa primary here.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKTVO