Where 2nd District candidates Corkery, Puffett, Hinson stand on abortion, inflation and IVF
(This story was updated to add new information.)
Democrat Sarah Corkery and no-party candidate Jody Puffett are challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson in the Nov. 5 general election for Iowa's 2nd Congressional District.
Hinson is seeking a third term.
The 2nd District encompasses 22 counties in northeast Iowa, including Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Dubuque.
To help voters make a decision on casting their ballot, the Des Moines Register sent questions to all federal, Des Moines area legislative and local candidates running for political office this year. Their answers have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Learn More: Your Iowa Voter Guide 2024
Who is Sarah Corkery?
Age: 48
Party: Democratic
Where grew up: Hudson
Current town of residence: Cedar Falls
Education: Bachelor's degree from Wartburg College (Communication & Business)
Occupation: Co-owner Corkery & Corkery
Political experience and civic activities: Federal lobbying with National Breast Cancer Coalition, co-builder of Place to Play Park in Cedar Falls, lifelong Democrat.
Who is Ashley Hinson?
Age: 41
Party: Republican
Where grew up: Des Moines
Current town of residence: Marion
Education: Valley High School in West Des Moines; degree in broadcast journalism at the University of Southern California.
Occupation: Congresswoman, formerly a state representative and news anchor at KCRG.
Political experience and civic activities: Currently serving on the House Appropriations Committee and Select Committee on Competition with the Chinese Communist Party; formerly a member of the Iowa House of Representatives; involved with local charities in the community
Who is Jody Puffett?
Age: 53
Party: No party
Where grew up: Manchester
Current town of residence: Delhi
Education: Graduated from West Delaware High School; degree in finance from the University of Northern Iowa and a master's degree in tax from Golden Gate University.
Occupation: Retired finance executive
Political experience and civic activities: This is my first run for public office. I have served on the boards of the Boys and Girls Club of Cedar Rapids and Families Helping Families of Iowa.
What would be your top issue should you be elected?
Corkery: Abortion access.
Hinson: Securing the southern border and deporting millions of illegal immigrants currently in our country will remain my top priority. Our country faces an invasion of illegal immigrants, and deadly drugs like meth and fentanyl are flooding into our communities as a direct result of the failure of border czar Kamala Harris. Every state, including Iowa, is now a border state. Iowa law enforcement officers recently informed me that cartel-connected drug activity has tripled in our state since Biden and Harris took office. Securing the border, stopping illegal immigration, and protecting our country is priority number one.
Puffett: Fiscal restraint and investing in America first. We have to tackle inflation head on, and the key is getting our federal spending under control ASAP. We are well beyond the point where the checkbook and credit cards should have been taken away.
What is the most important domestic policy you would champion in Congress?
Corkery: Codifying Roe v. Wade.
Hinson: Lowering costs, supporting working families, and standing up for Iowa taxpayers is my mission. While Kamala Harris plans to raise taxes, I will work with President Trump to make tax cuts permanent for families, farmers, and small businesses. Another way to reduce inflation is to embrace an all-of-the-above energy strategy: expanding biofuels, reopening the Keystone XL pipeline, and permitting reform to restore American energy independence and bring back good-paying energy jobs. This is crucial, especially with Kamala Harris’ intent to ban fracking and offshore drilling while embracing the Green New Deal. I'll keep working to make Iowans’ lives more affordable.
Puffett: Border security. I absolutely support legal immigration. There are individuals who want to come to this country to build a better life for themselves and who will be productive, contributing members of our communities. We need policies and processes that create opportunities for these deserving individuals and provide them with a path to citizenship. However, priority must be given to protecting our country and that means vetting everyone who comes here. We have criminals and gang members that have been allowed to cross our borders unchecked and unmonitored. This needs to stop.
What is a specific piece of bipartisan legislation you would push for in Congress?
Corkery: Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act
Hinson: My After Hours Child Care Act expands affordable childcare access for those who don’t work traditional 9-5 schedules, including law enforcement, nurses, store clerks, and manufacturing workers. These roles are critical to the function and safety of our society, and those who fill them deserve affordable child care that fits their family schedule. This legislation already has significant bipartisan support, and I look forward to continued work across the aisle to improve quality, convenient childcare access for working families.
Puffett: I am most passionate about improving mental health support. My husband and I adopted a sibling group of three through foster care in Iowa. Mental health issues are something we deal with every day. We also have a mental health crisis in our country right now with abused and neglected children, bullying, veterans with PTSD, etc. We need to do more to support our mental health communities and workers. I am a true believer that early intervention, and continuity of care, are critical for success. Unfortunately, without adequate support, these individuals are more at risk of turning to drugs or ending up in our criminal justice system. It is a sad cycle, and we can do better.
What specific steps, if any, should Congress take to secure the border and improve immigration policy?
Corkery: Pass the bill that Dems sent to Republicans that Trump blocked.
Hinson: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris created the southern border crisis through executive actions that halted wall construction, limited deportations and enabled the mass "catch and release" of illegal immigrants into America. Kamala Harris has failed in her role as border czar and supported Biden’s 60-plus open border executive actions. I supported the Secure the Border Act (HR2) to force the administration to restart wall construction, increase the number of Border Patrol agents and provide bonus pay, end "catch and release," and close asylum loopholes. The right amount of illegal immigration is zero.
Puffett: We absolutely have an immigration crisis right now and fixing it requires triaging the actions needed to address it. The first priority is to stop the influx. Three things that can be done immediately; (1) add more border patrol, (2) end "catch and release" and (3) finish the wall. The next priority is to find the 425,431 convicted criminals who are not being detained (according to a recent report by ICE) and deport them.
After the fall of Roe v. Wade, America is seeing a wide variety of abortion laws across states. Should Congress create a federal policy outlining abortion restrictions that are uniform across the country? If so, what should that look like?
Corkery: All medical decisions should be between a person and their doctor. End of story.
Hinson: I support policies to save as many women and babies as possible. Like most Iowans, I support commonsense exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother. The pro-life movement is not just about ending abortion, it is about embracing a culture of life. I have led legislation to expand maternal healthcare and provide resources to new mothers and babies. My legislation to prevent stillbirths was signed into law. Democrats had mobile abortions available on demand at their national convention; I will continue to call out their extreme position of supporting abortion on demand until birth.
Puffett: There are extreme positions on this passionate issue that will never come together in order to pass legislation at a federal level. For example, my opponents are at opposite ends of this spectrum. Hinson supported a bill that completely banned abortion with no exceptions-although she now supports exceptions. Corkery is 100% pro-choice. When asked, “How far into a pregnancy do you think an abortion should be allowed?”she responded “I don’t believe there should be any conversation about the number of weeks.” I support exceptions for rape, incest and mother's life. Also, women need elective options early in their pregnancy, but legal elective abortion up to the point of birth is barbaric.
Should Congress take steps to protect Americans’ access to in-vitro fertilization?
Corkery: Yes.
Hinson: My heart goes out to anyone who has struggled with fertility and has had a difficult journey to motherhood. I strongly believe IVF should continue to be available for women who have struggled with fertility and want to grow their families. From protecting fertility treatments to improving maternal care, I’m going to continue championing pro-life and pro-family policies for healthy moms and healthy babies. While Democrats fear-monger and play politics on this issue, I’m focused on real solutions. I recently led an initiative in the House Appropriations Committee to expand federal insurance coverage for IVF.
Puffett: I support IVF. In fact, one of the most heartwarming moments in my life was being in the room when a dear friend got a call from her doctor that their IVF treatment finally worked ― and she was pregnant!
Iowans are struggling with rising costs and inflation. What can Congress do to fix it?
Corkery: Support buying local and have less reliance on supply-chain issues.
Hinson: The inflation crisis is the direct result of out-of-control spending by Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Congressional Democrats. If Harris wins, Americans will only see their spending power shrink further, face higher taxes, and even food shortages thanks to her socialist price-fixing plan. I am laser-focused on enacting commonsense economic policies ― lowering taxes, ending wasteful spending, and unleashing American energy independence to lower costs for everyone. Additionally, I have championed increasing the Child Tax Credit for working families so Iowans can keep more of their paycheck. I believe it is your money, not the government’s money.
Puffett: Stop wasting taxpayer dollars and significantly rein in spending! And both parties are equally responsible for the mess we are in. They need to quit finger-pointing at each other and start collectively taking responsibility!
What policies would you advocate to include in the next Farm Bill?
Corkery: Incentives for farmers to help with sustainability.
Hinson: We must ensure the final Farm Bill prioritizes the needs of Iowa farmers while pushing back against bureaucratic government overreach that hurts producers. The Farm Bill must reduce input costs, bolster crop insurance, invest in animal health research and innovation, and prioritize farmer-led conservation initiatives like precision agriculture techniques. Additionally, the Farm Bill must include a solution to California’s Prop 12 to ensure Iowa farmers can continue and address foreign ownership of agricultural land. I will continue working across the aisle to ensure our producers can continue accessing USDA programs and have certainty.
Puffett: My first priority is protecting small family farms. My daughter and son-in-law farm a multi-generational family farm, and they have three young sons who clearly have farming in their blood already. We need to be a partner in helping farmers succeed ― a level playing field for them to compete in, support in accessing capital and risk management assistance.
What should be Congress' priority when addressing the federal budget — cutting spending or directing money toward programs and services?
Corkery: We need to cut anything not producing an ROI and direct money to help cut costs and keep people in their homes with paid staff including people with disabilities and the elderly.
Hinson: It’s your money, not the government’s money. We must take a sledgehammer to the Harris-Biden fantasy budget, which includes tax hikes on working families and inflationary spending on woke initiatives Iowans don’t support. A great place to start would be cutting federal funding from so-called “elite” colleges that have allowed antisemitic mobs to take over their campuses, defunding DEI programs, and ensuring other taxpayers aren’t on the hook for others’ student debt. I will continue watching taxpayer dollars like a hawk to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse while bringing home as many resources as possible to be reinvested in Iowa.
Puffett: I don't see it as an "or" option. We should be able to reduce overall spending while also reallocating dollars. We need to look very hard at how our taxpayer dollars are actually being spent ― a deep dive into the budget of Congress itself and every single federal department. Some areas within the budget need reduced or cut out completely and other programs and services need increased support (veterans, mental health). The first thing I would cut from the legislative branch is their pension plan. How many constituents have employers who provide a pension or DB plan benefit? Not many. They are very rare because they are very expensive. Congress needs to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.
Phillip Sitter covers the western suburbs for the Des Moines Register. Phillip can be reached via email at [email protected] or on X at @pslifeisabeauty.
Sabine Martin covers politics for the Register. She can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at (515) 284-8132. Follow her on X at @sabinefmartin.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa 2nd Congressional District candidates talk about key issues