Denklau to challenge Steve King

Mike Denklau, a Council Bluffs resident, calls himself a fiscal conservative who is progressive on some political issues and willing to work across party lines.

"Something that bothers me a lot in politics, and one of the reasons I got into this race, is I think there is a serious lack of competition in politics," Denklau said during a visit to Le Mars last week. "Unfortunately that lack of competition also leads to some lapses in accountability."

The Blue Grass, Iowa, native says his degrees in political science and finance, his work in New York's financial arena and his experience teaching a college class have provided him with the skills to represent District 5, which includes more than 30 western Iowa counties.

"What kind of person do you want in office trying to lead us out of this recession?" Denklau asked.

One of his first actions if elected would be to reject the legislative health insurance and any pay raises.

Denklau is a proponent for financial reform, debt reduction, and making sure regulatory agencies have enough money to do their job.

Denklau also hopes the Legislature will take the first step in health care reform, saying the bill before them now is a good move.

He's in favor of renewable energy tax credits and believes moving to a greener economy would benefit Iowans. It would create the potential for new manufacturing in the area to produce eco-friendly products, he said.

When it comes to carbon emissions, Denklau thinks taxing the entity causing the emission is a better option than a cap-and-trade system, which would cause entities who emit more than their permitted amount of carbon to buy credits from entities that give off less than their permitted amount.

In education, Denklau thinks the government should offer better incentives for teachers, making sure they are paid well.

Federal involvement in education should be a mix of government support and local control, he added.

Denklau, who grew up near Davenport, graduated from the University of Iowa and traveled to New York to work in finance before moving to Council Bluffs.

His forays into politics include volunteering full time with the Bill Bradley presidential campaign in 1999 and membership with the Young Democrats.

Denklau said he's not for increasing the size and involvement of government.

"People tend to want to live their lives with limited government interference. I think that's how it should be," he said. "I think the government's role should be to help people have a better life, help promote a good environment for businesses to flourish, but at the same time to stay out of people's lives as much as possible."