With less than a week before the Iowa Caucus and the national attention focused on the presidential race, District 4 Democratic congressional candidate J.D. Scholten said the current goal for his campaign is to build a solid foundation for the Democratic party at the local level.

Scholten spoke to a small crowd of 14 people at the community center in Maxwell Wednesday night about upcoming plans for his campaign and his dedication to solving problems for rural Iowa. The informal event was part of Scholten’s “Don’t Forget About Us” town hall tour, which is making stops in towns with a population of less than 1,000 people to hear thoughts and concerns by rural residents of Iowa’s 4th District, which includes 39 counties in northwest and north-central Iowa, including Story and Boone counties.

The lone Democratic candidate stressed the importance of supporting agriculture in small-town Iowa, particularly what he sees as a need to enforce antitrust laws and create a sustainable market for farmers.

According to Scholten, the Packers and Stockyards Act, which was designed to protect against monopolies in the meat processing industry, has grown weaker and weaker, and that is part of what contributes to the highly volatile ag economy.

The Federal Trade Commission classifies monopoly power as one company or a group of companies acting together holding more than 50 percent of the sales of a product. According to Scholten, more than 60 percent of the pork processing industry is controlled by less than five companies.

In 2017, Iowa’s 4th District was ranked second as the most agriculture-producing district in the nation. For farmers in the district to “be able to make a dime,” Scholten said the highest priority should be to enforce antitrust laws that mandate business practices between large corporations.

Scholten also called back to his campaign during the last election cycle in 2018, which ended with him only a few points behind Republican incumbent Steve King. According to Scholten, the momentum and name recognition he has leading up to the 2020 election will earn him King’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

With that goal in mind, running against King again in 2020 is not a guarantee for Scholten, with Randy Feenstra, Bret Richards, Steve Reeder and Jeremy Taylor also running on the Republican ticket.

According to Scholten’s campaign, the 2018 election cycle earned him 2,500 more votes than there are registered Democrats in the district. While the position still went to King in 2018, Scholten is counting on getting those votes and more in 2020.

With momentum still lingering from the last election cycle, a main mission of Scholten’s 2020 campaign has been to continue meeting with voters and gaining recognition, even if they don’t vote for him in November. Scholten said his goal at the time of the election is for 7 out of 10 people in any precinct to answer “yes” to one of three things—did they meet Scholten in person, have they seen his RV, “Sioux City Sue,” with their own eyes or have they been aware of his public town hall events.

During the question and answer portion of the town hall, one attendee said she appreciated Scholten sticking to the mission of his campaign rather than spending time talking about other candidates. In a political climate where criticizing opponents has become common, Scholten said later, it is more important to “meet voters where they are,” and Iowans are open to changes his campaign would offer.

“There’s a lot of folks that will never vote for me but they’ll at least listen to me,” Scholten said. “I just feel like in this district there’s such a strong need for change and folks feel it.”

People attending the town hall said Scholten’s focus on rural Iowa and hearing what residents of small towns have to say is what intrigued them about his campaign.

Huxley resident Colleen Martin-Herrin said spending time in rural communities and listening to what Iowans have to say is one of the best ways for Scholten to get support for his campaign.

“I think for his name to get out, and for people to understand what he believes and what he supports and how he’s going to work for all of us, you really need to get into rural communities,” she said.

Pat Peakin, of Colo, said he and his wife Linda made the evening drive to Maxwell so they would be able to “talk to someone that’s a Democrat” and that now that Scholten is in his second congressional campaign, he has a strong chance to earn the District 4 seat in the House.

“I think he’s willing to work,” Peakin said. “He almost beat King the last time and I think that gives him a good opportunity to beat him this time.”