“I don’t think Washington is working for Iowans for all kinds of reasons,” businesswoman Greenfield said during a Black voter day event at H.C. Meriwether Park. “This pandemic in particular has shown how it has hurt Iowans.”

About 20 people were in attendance.

Greenfield, of Des Moines, is challenging current U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, a Republican, for her seat in the November general election.

“We haven’t had the leadership we need,” Greenfield said. “We haven’t had the guidance or public health that we need. And certainly for the Black community, you guys have been affected adversely, inequitably. These are things we have to talk about and confront.”

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson
Theresa Greenfield, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Iowa, left, visits with a pair of potential voters during a Black voter day event at H.C. Meriwether Park on Friday evening.

According to Greenfield’s campaign website, she supports a living wage, investing in the workforce and equal opportunities and equal pay for women who do equal work. She supports the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which is a trade deal.

“I have spent most of my career working in very small businesses,” Greenfield said. “From running bean walking crews on the farm, working my way up to running a real small family-owned real estate company. I am a mother of a four, a military mom. I am a farm kid.

“My dad always said, there’s no boy jobs and no girl jobs, just jobs that needed to get done. That’s how I was raised and I will tell you in Washington, D.C. we have a lot of jobs that need to get done and a lot of jobs that haven’t gotten done.”

“I got in this race to put Iowa first and start working on those jobs,” she said. “I think this election is our time to really make a difference for Iowans to elect new leaders. Today that is what this event is about is celebrating voting and what that means in terms of our government, your voice, your opportunity to be at the table with leaders you get to elect.”

Greenfield’s campaign raised more than $6 million in the second quarter of 2020, which was the most ever for a Democrat running for Senate in Iowa.