photo by berleen wobeter Republican Iowa gubernatorial candidate Adam Steen, center, interacts with Tama County Sheriff Casey Schmidt, left, and Rep.Dean Fisher (R-Montour) during a campaign stop at Holy Grounds Coffee in Toledo on Friday.

TOLEDO – Thirty-plus people gathered on a sunny Friday afternoon to experience Republican Adam Steen, candidate for Iowa governor, at his campaign stop held in Toledo at Holy Grounds Coffee. The event was hosted by local Iowa House Rep. Dean Fisher and started off with an energetic entrance by candidate Steen. He greeted guests with a ready handshake and cheerful smile. The event was staged with flags and a Steen for Governor banner which served as a backdrop for formal comments. Steen was accompanied by several campaign staffers assisting him with set-up and campaign organizing.

Rep. Fisher led off the event by inviting the group to recite the “Pledge of Allegiance” followed by supportive words directed to the law enforcement officers present in honor of their National Day of Appreciation. Following this was an explanation of Steen and Fisher’s relationship and Steen’s unique connection to the Tama-Toledo area.

Steen served as Director of the Dept. of Administration (DAS) under Gov. Reynolds from his appointment to the position in 2021 until his resignation in 2025 when he announced his run for governor. During his employment with the state, Reynolds handed him the file and responsibility to relieve the state of its ownership of the former Iowa Juvenile Home property. Steen took on the project and with the help of what he described as an exceptional team was able to complete the sale of the property to the city of Toledo in nine months. While working on the project he and Fisher became acquainted and have remained friends. Observing Steen, Fisher concluded he had the right values and work ethic and felt comfortable endorsing his candidacy early on.

After those opening thoughts, Fisher welcomed Steen to the front and for the next 45 minutes, and Steen shared his journey from Iowa boy with a dream to play professional baseball to his current run for governor. Throughout his comments Steen had a recurring theme emphasizing his willingness to fight for what he believed in, inspired by faith and operating out of his considerable business experience, using it as a blueprint to run state government.

Steen had a brief professional baseball career as pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies from 2002-2004. His dream ended with a call from the team and Steen had to find a new path forward.

Adam then joined his father in his father’s investment banking business. The work took him to every part of the state and introduced him to many Iowans and their businesses. He gained valuable insight into Iowa and its culture and feels his work was very successful. Steen then recalls a significant shift and focus in his life fifteen years ago when everything he accomplished up to that point wasn’t enough and no longer seemed to matter. He had a spiritual awakening and felt his heart change. He realized it was time to live for the Lord and not for himself. He recalls being directed spiritually to plan and prepare for a higher level of business. His life became more intentional and he pursued answers to the question, “Why do I believe what I believe?” He found the work of David Barton’s “American Heritage” meaningful and also pursued schooling at the Iowa School for Ministry, ultimately becoming credentialed. He quickly clarified that he does not pastor a church and only performs wedding ceremonies and similar duties.

During this period of his life, Steen met his wife. They have been married for 13 years and are the parents of two boys. Shortly after the birth of his first child, Ryker, it was apparent something was wrong and he was diagnosed with a serious rare genetic disorder called Joubert’s Syndrome. This disorder can have multiple and varying serious impacts on those diagnosed. This, too, became a spiritual touchpoint. Steen learned not to ask “why,” rather he looked at this as a way to show God’s work through his son. The family considers Ryker a miracle and he is doing quite well.

Steen said he believes Iowa is the best state in the Union, and with his leadership it will continue to be the best. However, he has a clear sense we are at a moment in our state and country when evil is trying to take over. He wants to call out the battle of good versus evil. “This”, he says, “is the time to rise-up and protect our state.” Steen went on to name three principles which would guide his approach to leading the state.

First, with his business experience front and center, Steen calls the governor, “CEO of the State.” He offered up his time at DAS witnessing the flow of tax dollars from collection to distribution, his work with realignment efforts to make government more efficient and his work on the DOGE team as examples of his expertise in best business practices, describing his resume as “superior.’

Second, he says the governor must understand the culture of the state.

“We are fighters and hard workers,” he said. He would be the biggest champion for the skilled trades, starting training in younger grades while also building strong connections between community colleges and businesses. As a past business owner he learned how difficult it is to manufacture products in the state. He was clear he is not interested in the state throwing more money at AI.

His focus on hard work and personal responsibility plays out in his belief citizens need to stop looking to the government for handouts. He was clear-headed about his support for local churches and organizations taking over the role they are meant to have as a support to those in need in our communities. The example he shared of systems working as they should occurred during the 2025 government shutdown when SNAP benefits ceased and local groups took on the responsibility of fulfilling unmet needs. While on the theme of food he also wants to bring families back to the dinner table, literally. He believes we can begin to repair broken families this way. Further he believes the state’s mental health crisis starts with broken families.

Finally, he would keep the influence of outsiders out of the state.

“We need to do what is good for Iowa,” he said.

He is unapologetic about his common sense, America First approach to governing. His remarks went on to address several more final topics. He supports private property rights and does not support the use of eminent domain for CO2 pipelines and hopes this will finally be addressed during the upcoming legislative session.

Steen strongly supports local control. He does not believe the state does a satisfactory job of distributing money and wants those closest to the issues, such as school boards and county supervisors to have more say on how money is spent. Along with his lack of trust in state spending, he would advocate for zero-based budgeting where every dollar is accounted for, assuring income minus expenses equals zero.

This process of budgeting starts each budgeting cycle fresh and does not rely on previous budgeting periods. This, he believes, would provide transparency, better cost control and better identify government waste. He credits himself with identifying $500,000 of waste on unnecessary subscriptions early in his work at DAS.

Steen is a champion of school choice and ESA’s. He says he loves public schools and his boys attend public school but he does not love the ideologies pushed in public schools forced on them from elsewhere. He wants teachers to be able to teach without forced mandates and burdensome standards.

On this subject Steen was unafraid to be a fighter. He described himself as having a “spine of steel” and willing to call out good versus evil. His wrath appeared to be directed at issues relating to gender-identity and frustrations he has as a parent of a child with abilities that aren’t measured appropriately by standardized testing.

Steen’s closing comments outlined his plans for a successful campaign going forward. He anticipates a future debate with Rob Sand, who he considers the likely Democrat candidate. Steen and Sand are familiar with each other from work at state government and Steen is looking forward to a chance to question Sand on concerns he has from his time at DAS and their work together.

Leaning on his business instincts, Steen says he is building a great team with smart people “smarter than me”. They will fan out across the state and hit the streets hard, calling on churches and young people to support their campaign. He will do whatever it takes to get in front of people. He asked for prayers and donations as they continue to make a buzz around the state.

Steen wasn’t done yet. After concluding his remarks he welcomed questions from the audience. What followed was a collision of government vision with local lived reality. An honest three-way conversation developed between law enforcement, Sheriff Casey Schmidt and Toledo Chief of Police, Dan Quigley, Tama Co. Supervisors, Mark Doland and David Turner and Steen. Schmidt started the conversation with his concerns about the lack of adequate mental health services in the county and inmates with mental health issues. This is a long standing problem that continues to get worse.

There was agreement from all sides that the state’s promised improvements to services, providers and accessibility with the realignment to seven mental health districts across the state, rolled out in July has been a complete failure. After identifying more problems in this area, Steen was quick to acknowledge the problem and signify that he was listening and understood, then restated his belief that this was a local control issue and the state needs to get out of the way. His approach is to have those closest to the problem come to table, “bring the right people” and facilitate solutions together.

He does not believe the state can do things better.

“Nothing is going to happen from the Capitol-it will come from here-local,” he said.

Steen supports the work of local nonprofits in the areas identified and says to “look locally.”

“We have a spending problem in Iowa and we need to eliminate the excess spending in the state,” he said.

After a few more brief comments and concerns centered on the state’s push to take over local control and the resulting problems, Steen closed out the event with a promise to fight for your family.