Rep. Dan Kelley endorses Tyler Olson for governor

As Rep. Tyler Olson was trying to get his message to stick with the citizens of Newton, his posters were becoming unstuck from the wall of Uncle Nancy’s.

“I think the adhesive has done as much work and seen as many miles as we have,” Olson said.

Monday night, Olson made an appearance at Uncle Nancy’s, alongside Rep. Dan Kelley, who announced his endorsement of Olson for governor of Iowa.

“There was one person in the Democratic caucus and actually in the entire legislature who truly, truly impressed me as someone who has both brain and a heart,” Kelley said. “Because a lot of people have one or the other, some people don’t have either one, but there’s very few people that have both, and I’ll tell you this man, my friend, Tyler Olson, has both.”

Kelley said the decision to endorse Olson didn’t come lightly since he considers the other two candidates on the Democratic ballot for Governor, Sen. Jack Hatch and former Rep. Bob Krause, friends of his and thinks highly of their work in the General Assembly.

Olson criticized Gov. Terry Branstad for adhering to the same policies the last 30 years, particularly his education and economic policies.

“Iowa needs a new governor,” Olson said to the 16 people in Uncle Nancy’s Coffee Shop.

“I really think Iowans are ready to move into the future,” Olson said. “They’re ready for a governor that understands that economic development isn’t just about incentives. There will always be incentives in our economic development strategy. But a governor that understands it’s about main street businesses and small businesses.”

Olson believes there isn’t a carbon-copy economic plan that will work in all 99 counties of Iowa. He said each county has it’s own mix of industry and believes Jasper County is on the right track in recovery.

“I think Jasper County has done a great job, particularly in renewable energy,” Olson said, “and I think it’s time for kind of the next step. In the wind industry, we’ve seen what the renewable portfolio standard has done.”

Early last week, a fourth candidate announced his gubernatorial run on the Democratic ballot. Paul Dahl, a bus driver with no political experience at the state level, said he wants to bring a fresh perspective to the Governor’s Office.

“I think right now, in our opinion, the serious contenders are Tyler and Jack Hatch, from what I’ve seen,” said Alex Youn, Olson’s campaign manager. “But I don’t know that much about Paul.”

Kelley is the 30th endorsement Olson has received from his colleagues in the General Assembly. Youn said later this week, the campaign will announce two more endorsements. Youn also said Olson is the only candidate who has received union endorsements.

Staff writer Dave Hon may be contacted at (641) 792-3121, ext. 425, or at dhon@newtondailynews.com.