Mayor Kedley announces run for congress

Mayor Thomas Kedley has announced his run for the Second Congressional District during the 2020 election while continuing to be mayor of Osceola.

Kedley, a teacher at Clarke, got started in politics after his students encouraged him to get involved in civic activities because he always told them how important it is to be a part of the solution.

“The first push was my students,” said Kedley.

They were a big contributor to his decision to run for mayor. After being involved in local politics and paying attention to what was going on at the state level and the national level Kedley decided to do more.

“I saw that Dave Loebsack was resigning his seat,” said Kedley. “It looks like a good time to throw my hat into that race and see if we can be a solution seeker or a problem solver and bring the local government approach to the national level.”

Kedley’s main focuses are:

Education

“I believe that our education system is insufficiently funded and there are too many government interventions. We need to let teachers do what they do best and teach. We need to let states, local governments and school boards have more control over their budgets and make sure we’re sufficiently funding them,” said Kedley.

Family Farms

“We need to cut the endless fields of red tape. There is a lot of government red tape and regulations which actually hurt family farming and promote corporate farming,” said Kedley. “It’s almost become the fake family farm. People live on the farm but they work for major corporations. Most of these corporations are out of China. So I’m fighting for the family farmer...looking into the farm bill and things like that.”

Balanced Budget

“America is $22-23 trillion in debt. We are literally spending our children’s American dream away,” said Kedley. “At the local level I have to have a balanced budget or prove how I’m going to pay off the debt. At the state level they have to have a balanced budget or prove how they’re going to pay off the debt. At the national level they can just print off treasury notes and spend into oblivion. I’m proposing that we have a balanced budget amendment to get our spending under control.”

Mental Health

“A lot of the issues I see in America today are focused on mental health. That’s the all encompassing big thing. We need to make sure we’re getting people the help they need. We want to find solutions,” said Kedley.

One of the biggest eye opening things that Kedley has noticed in running for federal office is how much money it takes to run a campaign.

“I know I have to raise funds to be an actual contender in order to be elected and go on and make a difference. So I’ll play the game, but I don’t like the game and I don’t respect that part of all this,” said Kedley.

His main focus is being as grassroots as possible with his campaign. He’ll be traveling daily to talk with Iowans and coming home in the evening to continue running the City of Osceola with the City Council.

“I’m talking to democrats, republicans, independents. We’re all Iowans at the core. Political faction, I don’t care. At the core we’re all Iowans, we’re all Americans,” said Kedley.

Kedley will be making his campaign public via social media, public radio, local newspapers and just by talking with citizens. He will accept donations at www.kedleyforcongress.com or by mailing a check made out to Kedley for congress and sending it to PO Box 355 Osceola, IA 50213.