March 28, 2024

Independent candidate likes his odds for U.S. Senate

Rick Stewart, independent candidate for U.S. Senate, is visiting all 99 counties in Iowa before November to explain why he’s a better option than his competitors Rep. Joni Ernst and Dem. Bruce Braley.

The 63-year-old Stewart stopped in Red Oak and Creston Wednesday.

“I’d give myself 5 to 10 percent chance of winning,” Stewart said. “I like those odds. I like my chances because it’s an open seat, Iowa is a pink state, we have two fairly weak candidates — I mean neither is a superstar — and right now they are split in the polls. I’m just the guy in the middle who can make 80 percent of Iowans happy.”

Stewart — a Cedar Rapids native — described himself as a common-sense moderate. His policy ideas are eliminating federal unfunded liabilities, stopping the drug war and eliminating farm subsidies.

Also — regarding illegal immigration — Stewart said the problem could be solved by selling permits for immigrants to live and work in the United States for $50,000.

Stewart is a graduate of Coe College in Cedar Rapids and earned his MBA at the University of Chicago.

Stewart was chief financial officer of Frontier Cooperative Herbs. Over 24 years, he helped build it into a lucrative business that had 300 employees and $40 million in total sales. Since retiring, he has traveled, studied abroad and entered this Senate race.

In the latest poll, Ernst and Braley are each receiving about 40 percent of the vote. Stewart has about 2 percent. Around 8 to 10 percent of voters are still undecided.

Read more about Stewart at www.rickstewart.com.