NEVER TOO EARLY

Carlin begins campaign for U.S. Senate, stops in Rockwell City

May 11 marked a busy day for Iowa State Senator Jim Carlin. Before his visit to Rockwell City, he was in Clarion to meet with constituents.

Following his hour-long visit to The Golden Buckle on the Corn Belt, he was off to Humboldt to visit with those who believe in the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment – “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

Before Carlin departed east, the candidate for Chuck Grassley’s U.S. Senate seat walked over to the Calhoun County Freedom Rock at the Courthouse Square. Crafted by artist Ray “Bubba” Sorensen, Carlin acknowledged a statement painted onto the southern side of the stone.

Its words resonated with the politician who came over to Iowa from the East Coast, with the words “the cost of freedom will never be forgotten.”

Carlin is one who believes that freedom is on the line once more. This time, the 58-year old Iowa Senator believes that for American values to be preserved, there needs to be accountability within the United States government.

“There’s an undercurrent, and I believe that there’s a substantial undercurrent from people within Iowa,” Carlin said. “We’re not happy with how the Jan. 6 election was handled, and they thought – and I believe – that there was enough evidence to support further inquiry. Since that time, more evidence and data has come out, and we believe that when you have evidence, you have a duty to look into it and hold people accountable.”

“That’s one piece of one of the things that I’m hearing, along with the overall trust level between the people and the government,” Carlin added. “It’s been compromised quite a bit. It’s something that you hear a lot, as well. While it’s been going on for some time, it hasn’t been at this scale before.”

Carlin launched his bid for the U.S. Senate on Feb. 15, pitting the Sioux City resident against Grassley, who filed his candidacy for the 2022 elections on March 4. Grassley, who will be 89 years of age in 2022, would be running for his eighth term – should he enter the race.

While it is quite early, Carlin – a father and grandfather – is aiming to barnstorm and tour throughout the area. In his mind, it’s more so about the message, rather than the messenger.

“If you’re going to take on somebody who has been around for as long as (Grassley) has, you have to reach out and get in front of as many people as you can,” Carlin said. “So, folks know where you stand on issues. My big motivation in this is asking myself if my grandchildren are going to be free 20 years from now.”

“I never thought that I’d ask that question, but now, it’s very real to me,” Carlin continued. “When you ask yourself that question, it triggers a duty, a responsibility and a requirement of action on your part to preserve the freedom that you’ve been given.”

In his visit, Carlin stressed meaningful accountability, border security, reintegrating patriotism within younger Americans and protecting gun rights.

“If you surrender your borders, you’ve lost your identity as a nation,” Carlin said. “It’s also not taught that historically, America is the greatest liberator of other countries in world history. That’s not taught. I have no issue with law-abiding people, who want to work hard, play by the rules and pay their fair share of taxes. We want those kinds of people, but we should have concerns about the criminal elements that come in through our borders.”

“It was never the intent of our Founding Fathers to have the Second Amendment be that disposable without a hearing before a judge,” Carlin continued.

Carlin also touched on the proposed expansion of the Supreme Court.

“It’s another power grab,” said Carlin. “If you take away my Second Amendment, we’ve lost power to defend ourselves. If you redefine the Supreme Court, we’ve also lost power. Ideologically, it’s against our Constitutional rights.”

Another topic of concern for Carlin was religious freedom and the separation of church and state. Other topics included further taxation and nationalizing health care.  

“At some point, you really have to ask yourself, am I even free anymore?” Carlin said. “Thomas Jefferson said that the cost of freedom is vigilance, and he’s right. We’re there, now. More than ever, a fight is required out of us. That’s why I’m doing what I’m doing.”

Carlin came to Iowa in the late 1980s, following his graduation from Marquette University Law School in Milwaukee. After moving over to northwest Iowa, he founded his own law office in 1992, before being elected to the Iowa House of Representatives in 2017.

He then was elected to the Iowa State later on that year, and has represented the Third District since. To Carlin, northwest Iowa has been very good to him.

“Iowa has been transformational for me,” Carlin said. “The people of Iowa are just so plain spoken, and are nice and kindhearted people. When you come here, there’s more emphasis on family, as well as the faith and friendship aspects of your life. There’s a lot of more emphasis on building good relationships – family, friends and with God. The people are more grounded and a lot more solid in those aspects.”

“I looked at it, and came to the conclusion that Iowa is a good place to build your life,” Carlin said. “It turned out that I was right.”

In his spare time, Carlin loves football, and regularly plays Madden with grandson.

“I have a couple of quirks,” Carlin said. “I’m a big Pittsburgh Steelers fan, and my grandson and I will spend weeks preparing for the NFL Draft. We studied players and we had a competition to see who was going to correctly pick the most draft choices.”

Carlin cares for children, and loves to feed birds.

“We have a lot of bird feeders in our backyard, and I probably spoil them with sunflower chips and peanuts,” said Carlin. “After a while, some of them trust you to where they fly up to you.”

Most importantly, he’s a family man.

“I love spending time with my wife and grandkids,” Carlin said. “My wife is a good lady, and my kids are all grown up and are good people.”