Anna Banowsky, a University of Iowa graduate student and teaching assistant, is running for Iowa Legislature with a laser focus on education. Banowsky, a Democrat, is challenging incumbent State Rep. Heather Hora, R-Washington, for the Iowa House District 92 seat in November’s general election.

Banowsky is one of the youngest to run for the Iowa Statehouse this election cycle and one of 79 House Democrats running for office in November.

Banowsky decided to run for the Iowa legislature after observing the impacts of legislative policy on herself and her students.

She criticized Education Savings Accounts, a part of the ‘Students First Act’ signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds in 2023, that provides state funding for students to pay for private school tuition. While this bill is mainly directed at K-12 schools, Banowsky said that the impacts are felt at the university level.

Banowsky said education is one of the key priorities of her campaign. She wants public schools and Area Education Agencies to be fully funded so that public school students can receive the services to best aid their education. A bill passed in March reformed the funding AEAs receive by allocating 90 percent of funding to school districts, guaranteeing AEAs just 10 percent.

“I want people to make it through the K-12 system with the skills they should have to succeed,” Banowsky said.

Another priority of Banowsky’s campaign is reproductive rights, which have become increasingly restricted in Iowa following the enactment of a six-week abortion ban in July. She said the choice of if, when, and how to become a parent should be a personal decision for women, and the legislature shouldn’t be involved in that choice.

Banowsky hopes to increase access to mental health services in District 92, which is primarily rural. She said preventative and maintenance mental health care can be scarce in rural areas, and she wants to fill this need in her district.

These priorities are what Banowsky said set her apart from Hora. Hora voted in support of the private school voucher program, the six-week abortion ban, and to diminish the AEA system, all of which are policies that Banowsky said hurt District 92 residents the most.

Banowsky pointed to Hora’s vote in support of private school vouchers as the cause of the closing of Hill’s Elementary School in Hills, Iowa. This closure was due, in large part, to necessary budget cuts because of Iowa City School’s $3.75 million budget reduction for the 2025 fiscal year. As the smallest, least cost-effective school in the district, the Iowa City School Board unanimously voted to close the school in March.

“That’s very tied to that voucher vote,” Banowsky said. “You have a bunch of money going out of the public school system and into the private school system, and then you have these schools that are having to make these decisions about cutting jobs, or districts saying ‘No, we’ll just cut the whole school.’”

Banowsky said she wants residents of District 92 to see her campaign as a source of optimism. As an alternative to the incumbent, Banowsky said while things may seem bad now, she hopes to bring change to the community.

“We’re at this point now where we can say ‘here’s how things have been,’” Banowsky said. “But that doesn’t mean they have to continue that way.”

Derrick Juptner, a UI Ph.D. student in anthropology, first met Banowsky on an archaeology dig in 2022. Since then, Juptner said he and Banowsky have been close friends and colleagues.

Juptner said, like Banowsky, he has witnessed the negative effects of education policy at the graduate level. With staff retiring without being replaced and salaries failing to match inflation, Juptner said the waning public funding for programs like anthropology threatens the department’s ability to sustain itself.

Juptner said Banowsky is up for the task of repairing these issues. He described Banowsky as thoughtful, wise, and unafraid to stand up for people. He said in the time he has known her, she hasn’t been afraid to identify problems and propose solutions.

Although he hasn’t heard of a graduate student running for office before, Juptner doesn’t have any doubt about Banowsky’s capabilities in politics.

“If anyone could do it, it’s her,” Juptner said.