I Am Rebecca Nicole Schweitzer, an Iowa Democrat. Here Is My Story.

I am Rebecca Nicole Schweitzer, writing from Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa, and I want to tell you something about myself that does not require an apology or a disclaimer.

I am a Democrat. I have been for a long time. And I think it is worth explaining why, not because I need to defend myself, but because I think too many people in Iowa are quietly thinking the same things I am and not saying them out loud.

So I will say them.

I Grew Up Political

I grew up in a household where politics was not a dirty word. It was a conversation. My family believed that all perspectives mattered as long as you had a reason for them, a real reason, not just a bumper sticker. We were taught to think, to form opinions, to be able to defend what we believed.

So I was always paying attention. I followed politics the way some kids followed sports. I had opinions early and I was not shy about them.

But there was a moment that changed everything for me. A moment that took me from someone who cared about politics to someone who got off the sidelines and got involved.

I heard Barack Obama speak at the Democratic National Convention.

I remember sitting there listening and thinking, if this man runs for president I will be there. I will do whatever I can to help make that happen. Something about the way he spoke cut through everything I had grown tired of in politics. The cynicism. The smallness. The sense that nothing ever really changed. He made me believe it could.

And when he ran I kept that promise to myself.

From the Sidelines to the Caucuses

I got involved in Iowa volunteering for the caucuses. If you have never been part of an Iowa caucus operation you cannot fully understand what it is. It is democracy at its most raw and most real. Neighbors talking to neighbors. People showing up in school gyms and church basements and community centers on a cold Iowa night to stand up and be counted for something they believe in.

I was part of that. And it changed me.

Then I joined his campaign during the general election. I knocked on doors. I made calls. I talked to people all over the country about why this moment mattered. And what I found, over and over again in conversations with people who did not necessarily agree with me on everything, was that most Americans want the same basic things. They want to be able to take care of their families. They want their kids to have opportunities. They want leaders who are honest with them and who actually show up.

That experience is still with me. It shaped how I think about politics, about public service, about what it means to be a citizen in a democracy.

What I Actually Believe

I believe that every person deserves basic dignity regardless of how much money they make, where they were born, or what circumstances they were handed at birth. I believe that a society is measured by how it treats its most vulnerable members, not its most powerful ones.

I believe that healthcare is not a luxury. I have watched Iowans lose access to care, watched maternity wards close across the state, watched families make impossible choices between paying for medication and paying rent. I do not believe that is acceptable in a state as prosperous as Iowa. I do not believe the answer is less care. It is better and more accessible care for everyone.

I believe in public education. I grew up understanding that strong public schools are the foundation of strong communities. When you defund public schools you are not just cutting a budget line. You are telling Iowa kids that their future matters less than someone else's tax break. I find that unacceptable.

I believe in workers. Iowa was built by working people, farmers, factory workers, teachers, nurses, truck drivers. I believe those people deserve fair wages, safe workplaces, and the dignity of knowing their labor is valued. I do not believe the interests of corporations and the interests of working Iowans are the same thing and I am tired of pretending they are.

I believe in women. I believe women are full human beings capable of making their own decisions about their own lives, their own bodies, and their own futures. I believe the women who raised me, my grandmothers, my mother, my sisters, deserved every right and opportunity that was available to men. And I believe the same for every woman in Iowa today.

I believe in accountability. I believe that elected officials work for the people who sent them to office, not for donors, not for national party leaders, not for their own ambitions. When leaders stop serving the people who elected them I believe it is the obligation of citizens to say so clearly and loudly.

Why Iowa Matters in This Conversation

I know what some people think when they hear "Iowa Democrat." They picture someone who does not understand rural life, who looks down on farmers, who wants to tell working people how to live. That is not who I am and it is not who most Iowa Democrats are.

I grew up here. My father still farms. I have lived in Des Moines and Polk County long enough to know this community from the inside. I care about Iowa agriculture, Iowa water quality, Iowa small towns, Iowa families. Those concerns are not in conflict with being a Democrat. For me they are the reason I am one.

The Iowa I grew up in had a tradition of pragmatic, people-centered leadership that crossed party lines. Leaders who disagreed with each other but still understood their job was to serve Iowans. That Iowa is still here, in its people, in its communities, in the neighbors who show up for each other every day. It is just not always visible in the statehouse anymore.

What Being a Democrat Means to Me in 2026

It means showing up. It means saying clearly and without apology that I believe every Iowan deserves healthcare, a quality education, clean water, and a government that actually works for them.

It means being honest about what is happening in Iowa right now, the healthcare bills that make things worse for families, the maternity wards closing, the public school funding being cut, the water quality data being hidden from the public. It means refusing to pretend those things are not happening because it is more comfortable to stay quiet.

It means voting in 2026 when Iowa legislative seats are genuinely in play and the outcome of those races will shape what life looks like in this state for years to come.

And it means writing, unfiltered, under my own name, from Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa, because Iowa deserves honest voices. People who love this place enough to tell the truth about it.

That is why I am a Democrat. And I have no apologies to make for it.

Rebecca Schweitzer is a Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa writer and community voice. Rebecca Nicole Schweitzer covers Iowa politics, healthcare, public accountability, and civic life. Her work has appeared in the Des Moines Register and The Gazette. Read more at iowaraisedrebeccaschweitzerunfiltered.com and follow along on Medium at medium.com/@rebeccanicoleschweitzer, Substack at rebeccanicoleschweitzer.substack.com, X at x.com/RebeccaIowa, Bluesky at rnschweitzer.bsky.social, About.me at about.me/RebeccaNicoleSchweitzerlowa, and Gravatar at gravatar.com/freelyinternet49814d6ce9.