decorahnews.com special series: State Assembly candidate Darrel Branhagen wants state government to stick to basics

State Assembly candidate Darrel Branhagen doesn't believe government should pick winners and losers.  A progressive on social issues, he is traditional on economic issues, saying the free enterprise system is "a little rough around the edges," but it works.

Branhagen is the Republican Party candidate in Iowa House District 55, which includes most of Winneshiek County and parts of Fayette and Clayton counties.  He has been spending time going door-to-door in the district, shaking hands and making 3,000 stops so far, by his estimate.

Branhagen is not a newcomer to politics.  He served as Assistant County Attorney in Winneshiek County from 1981 until 1983, then was elected County Attorney in 1983 before leaving for Texas later in that year.  He served in the U.S,. Army from 1977 through 2007.

Branhagen started as a Democrat, but now is a Republican because he says Democrats favor governmental action as the answer to any issue--and that will inevitably lead to failure, he believes.  Free enterprise leads to job growth, he says, and governmental largess does not.

The Decorah resident tells decorahnews.com social issues have always been important to him, including support of the Equal Rights Amendment and the civil rights movement.

If he is elected to the legislature, Branhagen says he would support basic state government functions such as keeping the state's infrastructure in good shape, but he believes government gets more inefficient as it moves away from thos core tasks.  "I wish the legislature would not have so much power," he tells decorahnews.cpm.

(Wednesday our special news series continues with a profile of Democrat Rick Edwards)