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Suzanne Herzog is running as an independent against (R) Sen. Joni Ernst, (D) Theresa Greenfield and Libertarian Rick Stewart for the senate seat. 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 Herzog's responses:What is your top priority if elected into office?More functional government and realizing long overdue healthcare reform. 2020 offers Iowans a unique opportunity to have more leverage in the U.S. Senate if they elect a no-party Senator because of a current narrow party majority. Representing Iowans more directly with no party agenda to get in the way means the voice of the majority will be heard over loud extremists. My healthcare reform proposals are the most practical, efficient and effective and also the most likely to garner enthusiastic bipartisan support in Congress. What previous experience has prepared you for this position?I'm a life-long Iowan with personal, professional and educational connections throughout the state. Took care of people as a nurse for two decades; starting with veterans in Iowa City and at a VA Hospital in Puerto Rico then working in emergency departments- most of that time in Iowa's busiest ER. I took care of those experiencing homelessness, drug addiction, workplace and farm accidents, domestic abuse, mental health crises- people of all demographic groups. I became an economist in 2009 studying with many young farmers and business ag students at Iowa State. I studied and worked in Washington D.C. with multiple federal statistical government agencies and have worked directly with FEMA to assist with disaster relief. I have researched healthcare reform for at least a decade, and I know the U.S. healthcare system well because of my most recent work as a consultant analyzing data for large nonprofit healthcare networks based in multiple states. I am fluent in Spanish- having lived in Costa and Mexico as an exchange student, was a resident of Puerto Rico for two years, and once worked on a medical relief team in El Salvador. I consistently follow macroeconomic and international affairs issues closely. What has been your favorite quarantine activity?Connecting with the members of many great community organizations and activist groups throughout Iowa via remote/Zoom meetings. I have to get outside regularly for a jog, walk, bike ride or a visit to a farm and often use that time to connect with people. Now is a beautiful time of year for me to gladly engage future constituents as individuals or in small groups for outdoor events or activities. Please contact my team to meet with you! What part of your response to the COVID-19 pandemic are you most proud of?I keep my nursing license current so I can volunteer as a Medical Reserve Corps volunteer. Early April and May of this year I helped the Iowa Department of Public Health test people at two Iowa meat-packing plants and I helped to relieve or assist staff at three Iowa long-term-care facilities in Oskaloosa, Granger, and Des Moines. I'm glad to have heard directly from many small business owners, parents of children struggling with school challenges, and college students. What response to the COVID-19 pandemic would you change?Very early in the U.S. response we lost precious weeks to stay ahead of regional infection spread when our CDC chose to go it alone and not accept the WHO-approved COVID-19 tests that Germany had developed in February. Subsequently we bungled and delayed testing development and distribution. International collaboration to deal with global pandemics is essential. I plan to help change the way our National Disaster Recovery Framework responds to natural disasters to include human pandemics and global farm livestock disease threats. The NDRF is made up of six federal government agencies, including: FEMA as part of Homeland Security, Economic Development as part of the Dept. of Commerce, and the DOD's Army Corps of Engineers, Dept. of Health and HS etc. I recommend designating personnel and resources for disease outbreak within each (to also include the USDA) for more data-driven, efficient, and coordinated national responses. What is your favorite Iowa tradition?RAGBRAI because there is nothing like seeing people from all over the country come and connect with small-town Iowa residents in such a joyful celebration of community. The Iowa State Fair is right up there with it as I have many wonderful memories of spending time with my two children there. Their dad worked for Farm Bureau so for several years we looked forward to our "Farm Bureau Day at the Fair" with fun schwag and coupons to get delicious fresh burgers or turkey legs. How do you define social inequity and how do you plan on address it in Iowa communities?I became and economist to help tackle socioeconomic injustice. Social inequities are disparities in power and wealth often accompanied by discrimination, and/or a lack of access to essential resources like fair wages, quality education, affordable housing, and/or a fair and efficient justice system. Healthcare is a human-capital investment, and for far too long, too many Iowans have not had fair access to reliable, affordable, quality healthcare coverage. My healthcare reform plan makes private health insurance work better for everyone, restructuring the market in important ways to the benefit of our smaller rural healthcare providers and consumers. My plan ensures that public funding for healthcare gives us more bang for our buck and that it more effectively prevents medical bankruptcies. This - in combination with my goals to address tax policies, justice system reform, student loan debt, international trade issues, and the incompetence's and inefficiencies of some of our federal agencies, will improve wages and provide better access to employment and education opportunities for all. What do you think is the biggest challenge facing Iowa farmers and how to you plan to support them if elected?Market shocks from poorly-managed international trade policies have dire, enduring negative impacts for our farmers. When Trump ended Transpacific Partnership(TPP) negotiations in 2017, we lost an incredibly valuable opportunity to lead the world by having real leverage against China in collaboration with Canada, Japan, Australia and other important Asian Trading partners. U.S. contributions to the TPP up to that time offered the strongest intellectual-property-rights protections ever proposed in an international trade agreement. Therefore, Trump's hapahazard, harmful tariff-wars should have never happened. Our Congressional representatives failed to assert their Constitutional authority to stop him. I would enforce the legislative branch's Constitutional authority over tariffs and foreign commerce and fix this mess for our famers! I will provide better oversight for management and transparency of our federal agencies in the best interest of farmers: USDA's Economic Research and Ag Marketing Services, EPAs management of RFS obligations and practical water quality management, ongoing work with DOD's Army Corps of Engineers, and the Federal Communication Commission's rural broadband and internet support policies.To learn more, check out Herzog's website.