Warren focused on economic policy at Friday’s campaign stop, calling for “structural change” in America.

“What’s happening to America’s working families? Why is it that America’s middle class is getting hollowed out?” she said. “It is no accident. The big shift in this country is a government that works great for the wealthy and the well-connected, but it’s just not working for the rest of America.”

Warren touted her leadership in creating the Consumers Financial Protection Bureau in the aftermath of the 2008 economic crash and her opposition to what she described as corruption in the federal government.

Specifically, Warren said a 2-percent “wealth tax” on people with $50 million or more in assets would help advance several policies. She likened the tax to the property taxes homeowners pay each year.

T-R PHOTO BY ADAM SODDERS - Warren is one of 18 confirmed Democrats vying to take on U.S. President Donald Trump in November 2020.

“You know what we could do with 2 percent a year? We could provide universal child care, pre-k and pre-pre-k for every kid in America and still have $2 trillion left over,” Warren said.

She also said the revenues from the tax could help fund other programs like the proposed Green New Deal and housing initiatives.

Warren also made clear her support for stopping the negative impacts of climate change, promoting voting rights for all Americans and more.

She shared her personal story of growing up in the middle class. Warren said her parents’ hard work, her hard work and opportunities like scholarships got her to be a public school teacher, then a law school student and eventually a professor.

“I have lived opportunity, I believe in opportunity and I believe that’s what makes us an extraordinary country,” she said. “What I want for America is that we just put a little fairness back in the system and make the investments so that not just the children of the wealthy and the well-connected have a chance to make it.”

State Rep. Mark Smith introduced Warren at the event. He said he has not endorsed any of the 18 current Democrats vying to take on Trump in 2020, but praised Warren’s efforts in the Senate.

“We are honored to have a great protector of the middle class with us today,” Smith said.

Warren is one of a handful of candidates to visit Marshalltown in the 2020 cycle. Others include U.S. Sen. Cory Booker and entrepreneur Andrew Yang.