(Cedar Rapids, IA) Jonathan Narcisse, an editor and publisher, former Des Moines School Board Member and former Co-Chair of the Polk County Democratic Party, announced his entry into the 2014 Democratic Party gubernatorial race. Narcisse ran in the 2010 Gubernatorial election as a candidate for the Iowa Party, picking up a little more than 1% of the vote.
He will compete against State Senator Jack Hatch (D-Des Moines) for the party’s nomination to challenge Republican incumbent Governor Terry Branstad.
He says he is declaring a war on poverty.
Narcisse announced it would be the highest priority of his administration to end poverty in Iowa. “We have the means to end poverty in this state what we have lacked is the will” stated Narcisse.
Narcisse also stressed the importance of restoring integrity to governance in Iowa and justice to working class Iowans.
“Last night at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration in Des Moines Pastor Bobby Young recalled attending court and observing a profound disparity in justice. An affluent youth caught with a half-pound of dope was fined $3,000. An urban youth with a joint was sentenced to a year.
Narcisse said that disparity in justice is common place and the price tag is crippling. Narcisse pledged to make the restoration of justice for all Iowans a high priority.
Narcisse shared the story of a young woman working at Hardees in Des Moines he encountered at 3:47 a.m. in April of 2010. She discussed having to buy a prom dress for her eldest daughter, her infant daughter and having to go to her second job at 8:00 a.m.
“Why should we tax her overtime, or raise her gas taxes when she’s barely making it especially when we are going to turn around and give the money to film credit schemes or an Orascom to create jobs that cost a million dollars each? Instead of raising her taxes and giving it the well connected we should be discounting her taxes and the taxes of all Iowans” Narcisse stated.
“Let her keep her money and she will build the economy the right way as will other Iowans,” said Narcisse.
Narcisse shared two actions he would take his first day in office. The first would be to empower a process to save public pensions in Iowa. “The ruling by a federal judge in Detroit is very telling. We must act now to fix the public pension system in Iowa especially IPERS. We must make it actuarially sound, sustainable and honor our commitment to the men and women who served us faithfully including those who taught our children, ran into burning buildings and made our streets safe.
The second would be to restore trust in governance by ordering a process be created within thirty days to initiate forensic audits of state and local government. “When I was on the school board we had a contractor billing us for time that didn’t exist; we were paying for their bottled water and cell phones. This happens throughout Iowa. Corruption is a problem. The lack of accountability is a problem. My administration day one would make divesting in corruption and restoring accountability a top priority.”