CLEAR LAKE, Iowa — President Donald Trump is failing to make Americans’ lives better, U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly told Iowans here, urging them to push for change by electing Democrats this November.
“Across the board, this administration is failing in its most fundamental responsibility, and that is that leaders should improve people’s lives,” said Kelly, a potential presidential contender. “And that’s what this November is going to be all about.”
Kelly, a former NASA astronaut and U.S. Navy combat veteran, headlined the annual Iowa Democratic Wing Ding fundraiser in Clear Lake on Thursday, Aug. 13, speaking to a crowd of more than 750 at the historic Surf Ballroom, where Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper gave their final performances before dying in a plane crash the next day in 1959.
The senator from Arizona, who has said he is seriously considering running for president in 2028, told the crowd that costs are too high under Trump and that “the only thing that’s going up faster than the price of a gallon of gas in our country is the number of billionaires.”
“Right now our country is the richest it has ever been. Let me ask you something, does it feel that way to all of you?” he asked the crowd, receiving shouts of “no” in return.
He told the crowd about recently bringing his daughter, who is now 30, to the home their family lived in when she was born — a four-bedroom house in a nice neighborhood which he could afford on a Navy lieutenant’s salary.
That type of home is now out of reach for many young people like his daughter, he said.
“The system is still working, it’s just not working for you,” Kelly said. “It’s working for the same people who are writing the rules, the rich, the powerful, the predators in the Epstein files — and the people that kiss Donald Trump’s ass.”
Kelly, who is married to former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, made sure to highlight his connections to Iowa — Giffords’ brother went to Iowa State University and was a kicker for the Cyclone football team.
“So we have a connection to this state,” he said. “But for the Hawkeyes out here, don’t hold that against me.”
Kelly was first elected to the Senate in December 2020 to fill the remainder of the late U.S. Sen. John McCain’s term. He was elected to a full six-year term in 2022.
He drew Trump’s ire after recording a video in which he said service members “can refuse illegal orders.” Trump called Kelly and the five other Democratic lawmakers in the video “traitors” and suggested the conduct was “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH.”
The Pentagon later announced an investigation into Kelly, and Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth took steps to demote him.
Kelly told the crowd, “I know what happens when you speak truth to this administration.”
“Awhile back I made this statement that everybody, including Pete Hegseth, should agree with: that our troops should not follow illegal orders,” he said. “It’s pretty basic, and it’s common sense. In response, Donald Trump called for me to be hanged, executed, prosecuted. He couldn’t even get the order right.”
He closed his speech by rallying the crowd to vote for Iowa Democrats in the Nov. 3 election.
“When we flip Congress, when Josh Turek wins this Senate seat and the state of Iowa delivers us three House seats — maybe four — together we’ll be able to lower costs,” he said. “We can show that your health is more important than Donald Trump’s rich friend’s tax cut.”
He ticked through the list of Democrats running for governor, U.S. Senate and Congress and contrasted them with their Republican opponents, asking the crowd who they prefer.
“Folks, this isn’t rocket science,” he said. “And I should know.”
Iowa Democrats fired up for midterm ticket
Before the speeches began, hundreds of Democrats munched on a buffet of pulled pork and mashed potatoes while a trio of singers performed covers of classic rock songs.
Senate Minority Leader Janice Weiner, D-Iowa City, kicked the crowd off with a call to action.
“Listen, be inspired, then do everything you can for our future,” Weiner said. “It’s 82 days, friends, and sleep is overrated.”
True to the Surf Ballroom’s rock-and-roll history, speakers each walked onstage to a different classic rock song. And halfway through the event, Des Moines folk musician Chip Albright took the stage to play a song he wrote about Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Josh Turek, called “If It’s Turek, That’s Terrific.”
The event showcased Iowa’s down-ballot races to a crowd of Democrats desperate to break Republicans’ near-total control of state government. Attorney General nominee Nate Willems drew one of the loudest cheers of the night as he announced to the room, “I’m running for attorney general to defeat Brenna Bird.”
Turek spoke just before Kelly took the stage. He told the crowd that “the right candidate with the right message” — which he said is his “prairie populism” agenda — can take back Iowa’s U.S. Senate seat for Democrats this year.
“This is the year the pendulum is swinging back our direction, and we are going to be able to win this US Senate race and we are going to be able to make Iowa blue again,” he said.
Republicans say Josh Turek ‘too liberal’ for Iowa
Ahead of the event, Iowa Republicans held a news conference across the street from the Surf Ballroom, attacking Turek as “too liberal” to serve in the U.S. Senate.
State Rep. Charley Thomson, R-Charles City, noted he serves with Turek in the Iowa House and said he has “no personal animus” towards Turek. But, he said, “he simply cannot represent Iowa in the United States Senate.”
“Josh Turk, if elected, would vote with Chuck Schumer and the rest of the far left radicals in Washington, D.C., voting to raise taxes, attack agriculture, and reopen our borders,” Thomson said. “While he projects the image of a moderate on the campaign trail, his rhetoric does not match his voting record, at least on the votes he’s bothered to cast.”
Stephen Gruber-Miller is the Capitol bureau chief for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com, by phone at 515-284-8169 or on X at @sgrubermiller.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Mark Kelly tells Iowa Democrats Trump ‘failing’ to improve their lives
Reporting by Stephen Gruber-Miller, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Stephen Gruber-Miller, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
