"We're going to fix this now, and we're going to fix this so you don't have to," he said.

House is an incoming freshman at Iowa City High School. She said the town hall held at the Cedar County Fairgrounds was the first time she has spoken to a presidential candidate. Her involvement in politics is important, she said, "because if I don't pay attention, I don't know what's going on. And if I don't know what's going on, I don't know what needs to be done."

Her older brother, Jonathan House, 21, said Buttigieg's comment about not waiting to solve gun issues resonated with him.

"Columbine was 20 years ago, and we're still having the same issues we had 20 years ago," he said. "I really liked how he brought up that we need to solve some of the problems facing our country today and not kick them down the road for the next generation."

"I think he has good policies," Caroline House said. "And knows how to appeal to lots of people like my generation and older farmers who live in Iowa."