Letters: Trust, but verify

To the editor:

In 1966, Ronald Reagan created “The Eleventh Commandment” during his campaign for governor of California. The Commandment reads: Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.

Today, despite my deep admiration for President Reagan, I must break this rule. I do so only because Reagan also famously said, “Trust, but verify.” A candidate for the Iowa State Senate in northwest Iowa, Anthony LaBruna, is asking Iowans to trust him to represent them in Des Moines. He’s crafting a message that he has deep ties to Iowa as well as the experience needed to lead. I encourage my friends and family in Iowa Senate District 3 to take a moment to verify Mr. LaBruna’s claims.

Most alarming about LaBruna’s candidacy is the fact that he is not from the district he is seeking to represent. I believe that Iowans deserve to be represented by Iowans. He is an Orange County, California native who attended Iowa State before moving to Washington, D.C. In fact, as recently as September of 2021, LaBruna appeared as a guest on WHO radio where he stated he was still residing on the East Coast.

Just three months later, he announced his candidacy for the legislature in Iowa and his new residency in Storm Lake. State law requires an individual seeking a seat in the state senate to be U.S. citizen, an Iowa resident for at least one year and a resident of the district for at least 60 days prior to the election. It doesn’t take an investigative reporter or a rocket scientist to determine that if LaBruna meets these requirements it is by a matter of months if not weeks.

It is true that LaBruna has held government positions, but voters should also verify just what those positions entailed. The majority of his work was done as a student worker. He worked as a temporary staffer and an intern during college. These are common educational positions that are held by hundreds of college students in Iowa each year. LaBruna should be asked what major policy accomplishments bare his fingerprints from his work in government offices as a college student. He then served as a legislative clerk at the State Capitol. Many clerks are also college students and have a strong constituent service role of answering emails and assisting with lawmaker’s schedules vs. engaging heavily in policy or the passage of legislation. LaBruna’s claim to fame is his 10 months as a liaison in the Trump White House, a position that Politico reported was handed to him by a family friend and neighbor from California. His short stint in Washington was criticized by respected career public officials and the media who called him grossly under-qualified.

It is totally legal for LaBruna to seek office in a community he’s never lived in. It is also fair, however, for voters to ask what qualifies a young man in his twenties, who moved to their district just a few months ago, to serve as their next state senator?

Josh Wilson,

Cedar Falls