As the Aug. 27 candidate filing deadline for the November general election has come and passed, one of the two incumbents representing Marshall County in the Iowa House will face a challenger on the ballot.

According to publicly available documents on the Secretary of State’s website, Libertarian candidate Joshua Herbert of Maxwell filed on the deadline day in the newly redrawn House District 51, which includes most of Marshall County outside of Marshalltown and the southeast corner of the county. He will challenge longtime incumbent Dave Deyoe, a Republican from Nevada who has held office since 2006.

Herbert, who, according to Ballotpedia, founded and chaired the Polk County Libertarian Party in 2012 before moving to Story County and founding and chairing the Libertarian Party chapter there in 2017, previously ran unsuccessfully for a seat in Iowa House District 31 in 2014 against Democratic incumbent Rick Olson. He described himself as pro-abortion rights, pro-marijuana legalization, pro-Constitutional carry (and pro-gun rights in general), and in favor of abolishing the state income tax altogether.

“I’m running because there’s no Democrat running, and we need another option on the ballot,” Herbert said. “I’m pro-choice on everything.”

In addition to the western and northeast sections of Marshall County, HD51 also includes a large swath of Story County outside of Ames with communities like Huxley, Cambridge, Collins, Maxwell, Nevada, Colo, McCallsburg and Zearing all within its borders.

Rep. Dean Fisher (R-Montour) had previously represented most of the county outside of Marshalltown, but he now resides within House District 53, which includes most of Tama County and all of Poweshiek County.

In the new House District 52, one-term Democratic incumbent Sue Cahill will not face a Republican challenger as she is the only candidate listed on the SOS website. As previously mentioned, HD52 covers the city of Marshalltown and the southeast corner of the county, including Le Grand, Haverhill, Ferguson, Laurel and Gilman.

During a brief interview, Cahill said that although she is a Democrat, she continues to strive to work across the aisle, especially as Marshall County is generally considered a “swing” county in national elections.

“I think that I was elected to serve all the people in my area, in my house district, and I really want to strive to just not be for those who are of the same party as I am,” she said. “I feel it’s pretty important to listen to those constituents who maybe don’t agree with me on things because it gives me a better insight into what the people in our communities want and need.”

Cahill, a former Marshalltown city councilor, defeated Tony Reed in the 2020 election after longtime incumbent and former House Minority Leader Mark Smith announced that he would be retiring.

Deyoe could not be immediately reached for further comment.

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Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255

or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.