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Rita Hart is the Democratic candidate for Iowa's 2nd Congressional District after Rep. Dave Loebsack retired. She will face (R) Mariannette Miller-Meeks in November. Each Iowa candidate on November's ballot was given the same list of questions to answer. To view all of the candidates, click here. Here are Hart's responses:What is your top priority if elected into office?My priorities will be bringing people together, tackling corruption in Washington, lowering the cost of health care and rural economic development.First, we need leadership that brings people together instead of dividing us. I’ve told the story many times of how I grew up in a big family with a Democratic dad and Republican mother. We had a caucus at our dinner table every night. That’s the approach I took as a teacher, as a parent myself, and as a state senator. It’s the approach that’s earned me the endorsements of Republicans, Democrats and Independents in this campaign.I want the first bill I vote on to be tackling political corruption in Washington. Too often in Washington, the loudest and most powerful voices drown out the rest of us. Special interests are able to use money and influence to stymie progress on all the issues we need action on – lowering the cost of health care, investing in education and raising wages for everyone. Dealing with corruption will help us deal with issues like health care.Health care is the issue I hear more about than any other on the campaign trail. That was true even before we had a pandemic. And it’s personal for me just like it is for most Iowans — my mom had rheumatic fever as a teenager and went into heart failure during her second pregnancy. She raised nine kids with just a whisper and was in and out of Mayo Clinic all while I was growing up. We were incredibly lucky we could afford that care. That’s why I’ve put out a plan — you can read it at RitaHart.com — on how to do it. We need to keep protections for people with pre-existing conditions and allow Medicare to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs.What previous experience has prepared you for this position?First and foremost, we need leadership that brings people together instead of dividing us. I’ve told the story many times of how I grew up in a big family with a Democratic dad and Republican mother. We had a caucus at our dinner table every night. I learned how to listen to the other side and recognize that, even when we disagree, there’s work that has to be done together. That’s the approach I took as a teacher in small, rural schools, as a parent myself, and as a state senator. I worked across the aisle to lower the cost of health care, grow our rural economy, and rein in wasteful spending. It’s the approach that’s earned me the endorsements of Republicans, Democrats and independents in this campaign.What has been your favorite quarantine activity?Well, the thing I miss the most is being able to see my grandchildren as often in person. I’m still able to see them once in a while, but to make sure everyone stays healthy, that happens more often on Zoom. I will say that I’ve enjoyed being able to spend more time at home with my husband, Paul, and our dog, Buck.What part of your response to the COVID-19 pandemic are you most proud of?I have been so impressed by the way communities have responded even as our leaders have failed to do the job we expect of them. Here in Clinton County, volunteers created a “Mask Task Force" as a result of the networking from our Hometown Pride Project. Over 150 volunteers have sewn almost 10,000 masks since the beginning of the pandemic. Every student in the Central DeWitt school system had a mask because of this effort. What response to the COVID-19 pandemic would you change?I am disappointed our state and local leaders have not done more to listen to experts like Dr. Fauci and the CDC. The results are tragic and speak for themselves. Leaders should be encouraging people to do the things that are really going to make a difference – practicing good hygiene, wearing face coverings and social distancing. We need to acknowledge this pandemic is not going away tomorrow and certainly is not over. We need more testing and better ability to trace results.I was particularly frustrated by the way back-to-school was handled. I spent 20 years as a teacher in small, rural schools. Our parents, school districts and teachers worked incredibly hard to come up with plans that worked for their community over the summer without much leadership from either Betsy DeVos or Des Moines. It was wrong that just weeks before school started, local control was ripped away from districts and parents, students and teachers had to rework their entire plans.Finally, I am upset that there are still efforts to take away protections for Iowans with pre-existing conditions and insurance away from 230,000 Iowans. It’s wrong-headed policy and a pandemic is the worst time for it. We need health care policy that builds on these successes, not rips away care from people that need it.What is your favorite Iowa tradition?I love the harvest. Working together to bring in the crop is such a sense of accomplishment at the end of a hard year’s work.How do you define social inequity and how do you plan on address it in Iowa communities?Economic development was a huge focus of my time in the state Senate. I helped create the Clinton County Economic Development Commission that brought everyone involved in economic development together. Clinton became a Home Base Iowa community because of that work. Many of the Republicans that crossed the aisle to endorse my campaign did so because of this work. I want to expand that model as a member of Congress by having one staffer in my office whose job is to focus on economic development — working with communities and businesses to cut through bureaucracy and get resources where we need them.I also support additional relief from Washington for the Iowans who are suffering from the coronavirus pandemic. People are still hurting. I was glad when Washington came together to pass the first relief package. Even then, I said we need to ensure money is going where it is needed most. We need money for small businesses, not Wall Street and huge corporations that have access to the money they need.We need aid for state and local governments so as they prepare budgets for next year they don’t have to lay off firefighters, cops, and teachers.I support making sure people who have become unemployed, through no fault of their own, are taken care of. People are being threatened with eviction and facing food insecurity because of this pandemic.We need to stand up for Iowa’s agricultural industry. That means we need to ensure that farms are included and eligible for aid and, very importantly, we need relief for our biofuels industry. Biofuels are critical to rural Iowa and we’ve got to protect those jobs that depend on biofuels.We need Washington to prioritize the people who need help and get it done.What do you think is the biggest challenge facing Iowa farmers and how to you plan to support them if elected? My dad taught me to never underestimate the ingenuity of the American farmer. I grew up on a dairy farm. My husband and I used our savings from my job as a teacher to make the downpayment on our farm in 1986.It’s been a tough few years. We are fortunate because we own our farm, but there is no doubt that long-term damage has been done to our markets between trade policies, years of waivers driving down demand for ethanol and now the derecho this fall. Like many others, we are now without sheds for our equipment and storage bins for our grain. We need representation in Washington that understands what our farmers and rural communities struggle with every day. I will have the same approach in Congress that I did in the state Senate – listening to every voice and working to bring people together. We need a strong Renewable Fuel Standard and smart trade policies that open new markets while protecting Iowa jobs. We should work to unleash farmers’ ingenuity and innovation by paying farmers for environmental services like using cover crops, installing bioreactors and putting in buffer strips. Together, we’ll build a stronger future for our children and grandchildren. To learn more about Hart, check out her website.