Troy Price, chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party, was in Fort Dodge Wednesday as he travels across the state talking to people about what he calls “the mismanagement of Gov. (Kim) Reynolds and how her mismanagement and wrong priorities have really cut vital services for Iowans.”

Specifically, he highlighted the closures of workforce development centers across the state.

According to Price, 36 centers have been closed across the state, including 10 in the past year.

“Those are services that Iowans depend upon,” he said. “Going out there, finding a job and giving people the dignity of work. That’s what people care about.”

He said the Democratic Party has a goal of putting Iowans first as they prepare for the November elections.

“I’m out here talking to folks about those challenges and how the Democratic Party stands ready with our gubernatorial candidate, Fred Hubbell, our outstanding legislative candidates up and down the ticket,” he said. “Our statewide ticket stands ready to get to work to start prioritizing Iowans again.”

Price believes Democrats are “fired up out there.”

“When you look at where we were after the 2016 election, a lot of people were calling our party dead, saying we couldn’t win again,” Price said. “But you know what? The Democratic Party got back to work, and we went out there. We had conversations. We’ve been working to build our infrastructure.”

He said that, based on those conversations, he believes the values of Iowans and the Democratic Party are the same.

“The values of what Iowans share are the things that unite the Democratic Party as well,” he said. “We believe in fighting for every single person out there to make sure they have the opportunities they need, to make sure they have the health care, the education, the jobs they need.”

He called the party’s ticket strong, and said local Democrats, including Megan Srinivas, who is running to succeed retiring state Rep. Helen Miller, D-Fort Dodge, and John O’Brien, who is challenging incumbent state Sen. Tim Kraayenbrink, R-Fort Dodge, are great candidates.

“They are two people who are working hard out there,” he said. “They’re doing their door knocking, they’re making their phone calls, and we’re building the operation here locally to make sure that the Democrats win up and down the ticket this fall. We feel really good about our chances here in Webster County and in northwest Iowa, and we’re not going to leave any vote on the table.”

This fall, the party is emphasizing its commitment to make sure Iowans have access to good-paying jobs, health care and quality education.

Price went on to say that Iowans will need to look and see who will fight for them.

“I think you can look at Gov. Reynolds’ record as it relates to jobs, as it relates to education, as it relates to attacks on workers, as it relates to health care and privatizing Medicaid,” he said. “On issue after issue, Gov. Reynolds, (U.S. Rep.) Steve King, the Republican Legislature has not been fighting for them. They’ve been fighting for out-of-state corporations. They’ve been fighting for folks that fund their party.”

“But they haven’t been fighting for the people of Iowa,” Price added. “The Democratic Party is going to do that.”