To the editor:

We have a serious decision to make on Election Day. We need to think of what’s best for Webster County and Fort Dodge. We need to think outside the box and put aside our party affiliations to solve the issues affecting our community. To do this, we need to support a candidate who already receives strong support from politicians in both parties. That candidate is Dr. Megan Srinivas.

Megan is our hometown girl. She was raised right here in Fort Dodge, and after she completed college at Harvard and then medical school at Iowa, she returned to work at the Community Health Center. As the only infectious disease and internal medicine doctor in Fort Dodge, she has seen first hand how her patients have lost access to health care and how our community lacks critical medical and mental health support.

Megan is already well known in the state capital from her advocacy for health care reform, and both Republican and Democratic lawmakers come to her for help solving the health care crisis that faces rural Iowa. As a physician, Megan is focused on improving access to medical care for our community. And as the product of our public schools, Megan is also determined to improve our education system and make Iowa public schools top in the nation again. By reforming health care and allocating the current state budget effectively, Megan will fund our children’s education without raising taxes so that all Fort Dodgers have the opportunity to succeed.

Let’s put aside our differences, cross party lines, and come together as Iowans this Election Day, for all of our sakes. Vote Megan Srinivas for Iowa House.

Lydia Schmoker

Fort Dodge