Republican Candidate for Governor, Brad Sherman

Kay Henderson

He jumped in the 2026 governor's race before Kim Reynolds announced she wouldn't run again. We'll talk with Republican gubernatorial candidate Brad Sherman on this edition of Iowa Press.

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For decades, Iowa Press has brought you political leaders and newsmakers from across Iowa and beyond. Celebrating more than 50 years on statewide Iowa PBS, this is the Friday, October 17th edition of Iowa Press. Here is Kay Henderson.

Kay Henderson

Today we'll be having a conversation with a candidate for governor in 2026. We have invited other candidates to join us here at the Iowa Press Table, and you'll be seeing them here in the next few weeks. Our candidate today is Brad Sherman. He is a candidate for the Republican nomination for governor. He's a pastor from Williamsburg. He co-founded and was president of Informed Choices Medical Clinics. He served one term in the Iowa House representing Iowa County and the western part of Johnson County. He was also a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 2024. Brad Sherman, welcome to Iowa Press.

Brad Sherman

That's my pleasure to be with you. Yes.

Kay Henderson

Also joining our conversation Brianne Pfannenstiel of the Des Moines Register.

Brianne Pfannenstiel

Former Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Ian Roberts was recently arrested on immigration charges. The state auditor has said that he plans to open an investigation into this, and we expect the state legislative oversight committees to investigate this as well. What more, if anything, do you think the governor should be doing on this issue?

Brad Sherman

Well, I've been watching this pretty closely. I mean, there's a lot of reports out there as to red flags that were already existing that the school board should have caught, probably. But I think, you know, I've been holding back a lot of comments because I think, you know, you have to get a hold of the facts before you start making a lot of comments. I've heard a lot of rhetoric out there. That seems to be a little bit of a knee jerk reaction. You know? But I think the investigations have to take place. You know, I don't know that the governor needs to jump in there and take over right away. I'd say we watch, we watch this and let the investigation play out. And but there's definitely some action that needs to be taken on that because from what, from what's being reported, I mean, there were red flags that should have been caught. And I think this, and I wrote an article recently and sent it out, but there's, there's there's more to this problem. If, you know, it seems that DEI was part of the issue here trying to that might have been a DEI hire, which blinded the, the, the process from really seeing some of the things that should have been caught. And so if that's the case, I mean, that points to, to the broader issue. And there's been a lot of talk about DEI in the, in the past and, and cleaning that out of, out of our system. So anyway, those are my original thoughts on that. So.

Brianne Pfannenstiel

Well, Governor Reynolds has also ordered state agencies to be using E-Verify and Save to be checking the backgrounds of people who they hire. Business groups have pushed back on this for a long time, saying it's not effective and that it hinders some of the work that they're already doing. Do you agree with that push, and would you keep that implemented as governor?

Brad Sherman

Well, I think E-Verify should be used. I think that's something that people should be used if they care about, you know, legal immigration. I mean, I'm very supportive of legal immigration. In fact, I think our legal immigration system could use some upgrading to make it easier for a lot of the people that want to come here and be part of our nation and, and enjoy the blessings that we have here. But illegal immigration simply is just that's what it is - illegal. And so I think E-Verify is one of the tools we can use to to keep things according to the rule of law.

Kay Henderson

This past week, a panel of three financial experts met, and they said that the state tax collections are going to fall by 9%. This same group met in March and said the fall would only be 5%. So it's gotten worse since the last time they looked at it. Republicans say that's great because that is following through on the tax cuts that have been proposed. But what's going to happen is the state is going to have to withdraw $1.3 billion from the cash it has on hand in reserves to cover the state spending plan that was approved. Is that a good use of tax dollars?

Brad Sherman

Well, yeah, I've heard different numbers on that. But, you know, when I was in the House, I remember going over the whole budget issue and this was talked about in advance. We knew there would be a deficit. This is not unexpected. So there's you know, I think we watch this and watch how the economy plays out. I think there's things that we need to, we need to see our economy grow. I mean, there are some issues there. We but again, this is not something that surprised us. This was planned for and expected. So I think we watch this play out.

Kay Henderson

The state has about $6 million in a couple of accounts that it can draw on. Why is it holding on to that money? Why wouldn't you give that back to taxpayers immediately?

Brad Sherman

Well, there's a time to give it back. And then there's a time to say, to plan for the unexpected. I mean, it's like any other. It's like your household budget. You like to have a little bit in reserve to plan for the unexpected. Because as no matter how well we plan, there are always things that come up that you didn't plan for. And so I think that's just wise, wise budgeting.

Kay Henderson

So when, when and if you become governor and you submit a budget plan to legislators, will you spend within the expectation of tax collections or will you keep drawing down on this?

Brad Sherman

Well, that's always the plan. You always want to spend within your limits. Anytime you spend over your limits, you can't keep doing that. So we knew we had a surplus. We knew that the tax cuts would put more money in people's pockets. That in turn, usually stimulates the economy, and then it takes a while for it to catch up. So again, like I said, that was planned for. Not unexpected.

Brianne Pfannenstiel

Governor Reynolds and Republican state legislators have said that it's time to start looking at reducing property taxes. Do you agree with them? What would be your plan on on addressing property taxes going forward?

Brad Sherman

Yeah, I mean, everywhere I go across the state, people are talking about property taxes. They've gone through the roof in many cases. Not every case. There's a there's a few examples out there where it's not the case, but but you know, I think I was someone we were just talking the other day with some, some of us about that. The inflation rate and the property tax rate are not commensurate. The inflation rate’s around 40%. Property taxes have gone up 20%. And so there's a spending problem that has to do with property taxes. I think that's an important issue that has to be looked into. I think, you know, real auditing, transparency in government has a big part to play in bringing down property taxes. I think if people could see where every dollar was being spent in our state, I think the people themselves would rise up and say, you know, we've got to do something about this and, and that, and they would fix it because that's what our, our, our government is based on is the government of the people. So but we have to you have to make the transparency for that to happen. So but anyway property tax a big issue all around the state. I would love to see no property tax. I would be it'd be great. But I don't know if there's a way to fund our essential services, you know, if we were to cut out all property taxes. How do you do that? There's only two ways you could do that. One, you could do a sales tax and the other would be an income tax. The only two, first two that come to my mind. And we've been cutting income tax. So so that's something we probably shouldn't look at right now. But a sales tax to, to replace a property tax elimination, first it would be a big sales tax. And then it would have to be collected by the state because some counties have a lot of retail, other counties don't have hardly any retail. So one county would go broke, the other would go bust. You know, I mean, just have a boom rather. And so and so you would have to collect that centrally by the state, and then it would have to be doled out in many ways. And that that would be a big problem. And centralized government always scares me. You know, I believe in decentralized government. And so that's that's a problem. So so there are a lot of issues to consider when you talk about getting rid of property tax. But I do have one issue that I've been talking about. I think it's doable. And that would be for for when you hit 60 or 65 for seniors that then their primary residence could be tax free. A very small sales tax could cover that. But even that in itself might end up paying for itself because people would stay in Iowa then instead of instead of actually moving to another state when they retire. Because now they have a home. Plus it would protect seniors on low income from losing their homes. We already have some things, some things along that line, but it could be better. And then but then if people stayed in Iowa, then it would help our population grow. Then their families might stay around them. And there's lots of benefits that could trickle down from that. So so that's one of the things I'm looking at very closely, you know, to try to figure out a way to make sure that when we work all of our lives and pay off our mortgage, that now we don't have to rent our home from our government.

Brianne Pfannenstiel

We've talked about the ongoing pressure to the state budget at this point, and obviously cutting taxes in any capacity could exacerbate that problem. So how are you looking at it holistically? And, you know, especially after the state has moved to lower income taxes, is it is it feasible, is it realistic to tell voters that we can move forward on property taxes?

Brad Sherman

Well, like I said this, if you take it out here, it's going to be added someplace else. But I think we can't forget the fact that spending is part of the problem. And, I mean, I mentioned the 60 over 40 issue with, you know, with inflation versus increase in property tax. But nevertheless, there's there's some spending that has to be looked at and there's always I just, you know, I looked at, for instance, schools are a big issue and when it comes to property tax. And here a while back I looked at one one school district. They had seven full time D-I directors. And I don't I don't you know, that's who knows what the budget for that is. Probably over $1 million by the time you, you know, pay salaries and, and and then benefits and everything else, you know. So there's there's a lot of cut cutting that could be done. I think we have a spending problem that's bigger than most people realize.

Brianne Pfannenstiel

So are you saying that we're spending too much on schools and that should be reduced to pay for reduced property taxes?

Brad Sherman

I'm not saying that in general at all, I think, but I think there are a few cases where that could be the case. That's just an example that I pulled out.

Kay Henderson

In 2009, the Iowa Supreme Court legalized same sex marriage in the state. In 2010, you were among the folks who came out in favor of a constitutional amendment on that subject. And then last year at the Republican state convention, you proposed a plank in the party's platform on that subject. Where are you on this subject? And where is your party?

Brad Sherman

Yeah. Well, here's the thing about marriage. That's a that's a cultural issue that has a conflict that conflicts with some deep, deeply held religious beliefs that people hold, have. And so but I'll tell you, the motivator for me on that. One of the key motivators is judicial activism. You know, it's in our code right now in Iowa. It's in our code that only marriage between a male and a female should be recognized as valid. But yet we had a Supreme Court who decided that 5000 years of a definition of marriage should be changed. And not only that, we live in a culture where if you don't agree with that, you will get canceled. Your business might get destroyed, et cetera. So this ends up trampling on people's freedoms in many different ways. So, you know, I'm not for government being involved in anybody's activity in their bedroom. That's not government's business. But there's judicial activism here. And this is this is a major example of it. And so so that's that's kind of where I'm coming from on this issue. I think words, you know, words are so important. You know, Noah Webster, he's one of my, he I consider him a founding father. He was a young man during the revolution. But as you know, he wrote the the the 1828 dictionary. I have a facsimile copy of that one. It's a it's about so thick and but he was a master of 28 languages, and he knew the importance of having standard definitions of words. And if we don't have a standard definitions of words, we can make laws and rules mean anything we want them to mean. And so marriage has been defined this way for thousands of years. I don't think we should change it. Again, I'm not out to discriminate against anybody. I respect every individual, regardless of whether I agree with with them or not. I respect them, and I believe every human being deserves respect as a as a human being because they're created in God's image. So so that's kind of where I'm coming from on the marriage issue.

Kay Henderson

So if you were governor, how would you handle state policy in this regard?

Brad Sherman

You know, I'm not really sure at this point. We have to look. But we'll but I'm just saying, I think the definition needs to be what it has been.

Kay Henderson

Let's turn to another social issue that people discuss - abortion. You support the current state law that's in force in regards to the fetal heartbeat law. Would you go further as governor and propose a personhood law?

Brad Sherman

Absolutely. I would, because I believe, as you mentioned in the introduction, I was a co-founder and board chair of Informed Choices Medical Clinics. And that's one of the one of the key foundations of what we did was to have 4D ultrasound, a live ultrasound for for women who were carrying a child. And when they see that little person with hands and legs, they know that's not just a clump of cells anymore. It's a person. And, and, and people have rights. And so that's, that's that's huge for me. So you know, and I think, you know, 80% of America agrees that late term abortion is wrong. And so basically the question of personhood has already been answered. 80% of America already believes that is a person in the womb. So the next question is where do we draw the line in terms of time? You know, is it 35 weeks? Is it 20 weeks? Is it six weeks, you know, or is it from conception? So I think, there's only one, for me there's only one place to go, but it's just an arbitrary line. In time, somebody's going to come up with an arbitrary line. So to me, I have to go to the most highest authority I know of, and that's God and His Word. And His word says in Jeremiah 1:5 that, you know, before you were formed in the womb, I knew you. And so that's why that's where why I come to that conclusion, you know, it's the same thing with Roe v. Wade being reversed. And now we're here. We are looking at states rights. You know, they said it's pushed to the states now where it belongs. Well I don't think it should be in the States. I think it should be a national rule because the Declaration of Independence tells us that our creator has given us certain unalienable rights, which is life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And so life is one of the first rights that we have to protect. None of the others matter if we're dead. And so, you know, it's just so how can my life have value on on this side of the line, I take a step across this state line, now it doesn't have value. That just doesn't make sense to me. So it's arbitrary issue.

Kay Henderson

Speaking of the line, where is the line in regards to contraception and IVF?

Brad Sherman

Well, I think it conception is the issue. We have to look at that's the line. And if there's a conception, that's that's where I believe. Now working that out has a lot of complications. I get that. So it's going to take a lot of work. I don't think we can get there overnight. I think it requires a lot of education, a lot of convincing, because that's just the way our government works.

Brianne Pfannenstiel

I want to talk about another issue that's been a real, a real talker for the Republican Party. The proposed carbon capture pipeline and the use of eminent domain. You've you've compared the use of eminent domain to socialism, in this case. What would you do to bring the party together and advance legislation that both balances, you know, the opposition to the use of eminent domain as well as the the state's reliance on the ethanol industry?

Brad Sherman

Well, I would just get right back to our Constitution. I mean, here's the way I can paraphrase it in very simple terms for me, is that you have a private company who's not a common carrier for a product that's not a public utility. Well, when you have that, you don't get to use eminent domain. So this is not a public utility issue. I think there are other ways to, you know, I usually make a joke here. I don't mean to offend, offend any lawyer friends of mine, but, you know, some things are so simple you need a lawyer to misunderstand it, you know? So. But we can't just twist twist our laws around. They're pretty clear. And if they're if they're not clear, they need to be clarified. But property rights is a huge issue. That's one when when the declaration talked about life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. Pursuit of happiness was primarily about property. And so that's one of the rights that we have. The right to work. I've been saying this for decades. The right to work, to own property, enjoy the fruit of your labors. That's a that's a fundamental right. And and that's government's job. And governments are instituted among men to protect these rights. That's government's job to protect that. So, you know, pulling the party together, I think it's just a matter of some things you have to stand your ground on and you say, you know, no, this is good. Now, when it comes to the ethanol industry and all that, I'm totally for the ethanol industry. You know, it's a good thing. I think there are many other ways to to make them profitable. Many of them are pretty much off subsidies now. I think the ethanol, or let’s see, methanol is an issue. They're they're able to add a component to the ethanol plants that produce methanol, which is a very, you know, marketable product. And they can do that. And and you don't have to have dig a pipeline from here to somewhere to get rid of CO2.

Kay Henderson

I covered you recently at a farm in Shelby County, and you said in the heartland, the breadbasket, we’re importing 90% of the food that we eat. How would you, as governor, make small scale farming profitable? Because farmers obviously are very dependent on USDA and federal policy.

Brad Sherman

Yeah, I think that was in the context of the high cancer rates, and that we have in Iowa. So we're looking for the answers. We need some serious studies, independent studies on where what's causing our cancer rates. You know, I don't know that it's necessarily processed foods. It I think that's probably part of it. I can't speak to that because I'm not the scientist that did the research. But this is an important issue. We have to figure out what's causing that. And I think and I've talked to several farmers that are doing what's called regenerative farming and organic farming, and they get a better price. Some of them are making making good money. So I think it can be done properly, I think, and profitably. I just think it's an important thing that we need to add. So I think we need to have the choice. If we want to eat food that's grown locally, I think we need to get rid of the regulations that inhibit that and make it something that we can do.

Kay Henderson

A lot of topics we want to cover. Also, at that event, you said you won't be bought. Government isn't for sale. Will you propose campaign finance reform as governor?

Brad Sherman

I'd love to see campaign finance reform. There are no limits on campaign donations in Iowa. It makes it very difficult, you know, in many cases because there seems to be a group of people out there that make big donations and they think they should be able to control who gets to run and what they do once they get elected. And that's just a gut feeling I have. I don't have any evidence of that. That's just how it feels from being involved in the system. But, you know, that's my one of the promises I've been making is I will not be bought. Government is not for sale. I didn't check with any political bosses when I decided to run for this. You know, this was something that, you know, my wife and I prayed about. We've never been more confident. You know, actually, the reason I ran is when I was in the state House, my daughter passed away. And and so we made that's why I didn't run again for another term. And so we made plans to move to a different district. So I gave up my seat. And in the process, you know, we didn't feel like we were finished. And people started saying, you should run for governor. And I didn't take it too seriously at first. But then when we prayed about it, God made it so clear to us. In 50 years, you know, hearing God's not exact sometimes, you know, you think you do, you're not sure. But on this one, I've never been more confident in all my life that this is what God has led us to do. So. So yeah, I know I digressed a moment there. But that's how, that's how we're into this.

Brianne Pfannenstiel

Well, let's let's talk about your place in this field. U.S Representative Randy Feenstra is expected to get into this primary race any day now. He's expected to do so with millions of dollars with pretty high name I.D. How do you feel that you can compete with somebody like him in this primary?

Brad Sherman

Yeah, well, we've had, I think, 160. I was telling you earlier, before we went on air, I think I've had 169 events in Iowa since we started. We've been to 67 counties. Of course, we're going to go to all of them. And then and then more. But and with 169 events in 67 counties, we've obviously been to some counties more than once. So we're just going to keep going. And we feel very, very encouraged about the response we're getting. People are hearing our message. They resonate with it. I think that’s, that retail, grassroots politics in Iowa is is what works. And I think we've seen many examples in the past of hard working politicians who get elected with with a fraction of the money that other people spend. So money is a big issue. We need money. We appreciate donations. But like I say, like. And then back to your other question and about not being bought, it doesn't change my definition of right and wrong. So.

Kay Henderson

You are a supporter of education savings accounts which help families cover the costs of private school tuition in Iowa. Would you support extending that same amount of state money to people who are homeschooling?

Brad Sherman

I would, I would. I think competition is good. Now, a lot of homeschoolers don't want that. And that's their choice because they don't want any government control at all. And and when government gives money, there's usually some controls that come with it. But here's the thing about public education. I know a lot of people are upset about the ESAs. They think that you're giving government money to private schools, and you shouldn't be doing that. Well, first off, they only get a portion of the money. They don't get the whole amount of money. The average, the last time I checked, the average amount of money spent per student in Iowa was $22,000. Total per student. And there's only like 70, was it 7800 or something like that that ESAs make available for tuition and a few other things. So so that's one issue. Secondly, it's a savings account. It's not a voucher. It's not something that goes to the parent. The parents never have this money in their hands. And thirdly, it creates which is an accountability system within itself. And then thirdly, this this is an issue that where you have competition. In business, if you have competition, the quality always goes up and the price goes down. And the same thing is true in education. If we have competition in education, everybody is going to do a better job and they're going to try to do it cheaper to get the customers. And so I think that's important for public education as well. And so I think I think it'll work out and make it good and better for everybody.

Kay Henderson

Speaking of customers, people are seeing their electric rates rise. You're a supporter of small modular nuclear reactors. How would that change the marketplace?

Brad Sherman

You've done your homework, haven't you? [LAUGHTER]

Kay Henderson

Well, how would that change the marketplace? And we have about a minute left.

Brad Sherman

Yeah. Well I went to a seminar in 2023. I've also talked to some other people in the nuclear energy industry. And these new reactors, they're modular, means they're produced off site and it's hauled in and set up. And there's different versions of them, different types of them. But this these things are way safer. Some of the smaller ones now actually burn the fuel from our previous type of reactor so that this spent fuel that we're everybody's wondering how to get rid of can now be used to to fuel these reactors. I think this is something that we really need to look at in Iowa. It could, it could, we could have a network of small reactors. It's cheap energy. It's safe energy. And it could could fuel our whole state. We could sell energy. And this could actually by by having a network of smaller ones instead of one, just a few big ones. We could literally revitalize our rural communities, create a lot of jobs. So I think there's just it's just a win-win every way around for for small modular reactors, I think. So, you know, these are just these are new on the scene, relatively new. So we're looking at it. But this is this is an important issue I think we should look at.

Kay Henderson

My job right now is to tell you that we are out of time for this conversation. Thanks for joining us today.

Brad Sherman

You're you're certainly welcome. It's my pleasure to be here.

Kay Henderson

We've invited multiple Republican and Democratic candidates for governor to join us here at the Iowa press table. You'll be hearing from more in the coming weeks. You can watch every episode of Iowa Press at iowapbs.org. For everyone here at Iowa PBS, thanks for watching today.

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Funding for Iowa Press was provided by Friends, the Iowa PBS Foundation.

Banking in Iowa goes beyond transactions. Banks work to help people and small businesses succeed. And Iowa banks are committed to building confident banking relationships. Iowa banks, your partner through it all.