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Waechter again seeks House seat

Gary Waechter will again run for the state House of Representatives in the district that includes Fort Dodge.

Waechter said Thursday that he will seek the Republican nomination in House District 9 during the 2018 primary election.

He ran for the seat in 2016 and was defeated by state Rep. Helen Miller, D-Fort Dodge. Miller won her eighth term in that election when she beat Waechter by a roughly 57 percent to 42 percent margin.

In the upcoming election cycle he will face Ann Meyer, of Fort Dodge, in the spring primary balloting. No other Republicans have entered the race and Miller has not announced her plans.

Waechter, of Fort Dodge, said he “really enjoyed” the 2016 campaign.

“It was the interaction with the people that I really enjoyed,” he said. “I came back from knocking on doors really excited.”

He said economic growth, security and the reduction of government regulations are the key issues he will campaign on.

He described a tax cut as “the main driving force” for economic growth.

“Our taxes are some of the highest and people are not coming here because our taxes are so high,” he said. “We’ve got to make it so that they can come here and succeed.”

The candidate is retired from a sales career. He is a native of Humboldt County who graduated from Twin Rivers High School in Bode. He also attended Fort Dodge Junior College. Waechter is a veteran of the Iowa Army National Guard.

He lived in Calhoun County for 12 years. He was a member of the Rockwell City school board when that district merged with the Lytton school district.

He and his wife, Linda, have eight children.

House District 9 includes Badger, Clare, Duncombe, Fort Dodge, Vincent and rural areas of northern Webster County.

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