“If Democrats don’t nominate someone who can go after him on the economy, Trump will win in 2020,” Steyer said, adding he knows what it takes to build a business.

“I built mine over 27 years. I understand what it takes to grow a business, what makes the United States a prosperous country, which is what Trump does not know because he is a fake.”

Steyer is a former hedge fund manager who has been criticized for creating some of his wealth from investments which included fossil fuel projects.

That subject was brought up by Nancy Adams of Marshall County during a question and answer segment.

Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer speaks during a campaign event Sunday at the local La Carreta Mexican Grill.

“When I realized there were these huge unintended consequences, I divested and I pushed hard for over a decade to deal with climate change at a level that no one else in this race has,” he said.

Since stepping away from his business some time ago, Steyer and his wife Kat Taylor have donated millions to charitable causes while campaigning aggressively against oil, tobacco and pharmaceutical interests.

Steyer cited numerous victories against them.

Tom LaVille of Marshalltown, a retired educator, asked Steyer how he could work with a Republican-led Senate.

“You will never hear me say a disrespectful thing about Republican voters,” Steyer said. “They are trying to figure out the right thing to do for their family. The leaders of the Republican party I treat differently. I have only two rules in politics, ‘Tell the truth and put the American people first.’ If one does not do those things, I get angry. That is why I have campaigned to impeach Trump beginning in 2017.”

One attendee of Steyer’s campaign stop was Adam Richards of Tama County.

Richards said he attended to hear what Steyer had to say.

However, he declined to commit to caucus for him.

“Maybe that will change after he is done speaking,” Richards said.

Farmer Jeff Fuller of Central Iowa said during the question and answer session he would caucus for Steyer because of his leadership on climate change.

Since entering the presidential race in July, Steyer has drawn attention for his personal spending. In the third quarter of the year, Steyer spent $47 million on his campaign easily outspending all the other candidates in the race and dominating airwaves, allowing him to qualify for Democratic debates.

However, Steyer’s place as the richest man in the field was erased by late-entrant Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor with a net worth of $55.5 billion, according to Forbes. Bloomberg has spent $117 million on ads since entering the presidential race Nov. 24.

Regardless, January has been a good month for Steyer.

On Friday, he qualified for the Jan. 14 Democratic National Committee-sponsored debate in Iowa by hitting the threshold requirement of 225,000 donors.

Also on Friday, Steyer’s campaign announced they had hired veteran political operative Jeff Berman, who worked on President Barack Obama’s two presidential campaigns and Hilary Clinton’s failed 2016 bid against Trump.

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Contact Mike Donahey

at 641-753-6611 or

mdonahey@timesrepublican.com