Matt Schultz is a political phenomenon. At age 25, while a law student at Creighton, he ran in a special election for an at large (citywide) City Councilman in Council Bluffs, Iowa, in 2005. He had only lived in Council Bluffs two years, yet he came out first in the primary and then beat a popular former mayor, but one who had been out of politics for a decade.
In politics, this is amazing. How did he accomplish it with very modest funding? First, he has a remarkably upbeat, enthusiastic personality that is contagious. Second, he clearly articulates important and believable practical goals to which he is totally committed. Third, he works tirelessly and skillfully. Fourth, he has a wonderful wife, Zola, who also is a returned missionary and supports him unstintingly and intelligently.
Matt and Zola obtained a list of everyone who voted in the previous city council election with identification as Republican Democrat or Independent. Then Zola drove him to every home and pointed to the home, the name of the voter and whether D, R, or I. His verbal presentations had somewhat different emphases based on their party. If they were not home, he would leave the flyer appropriate for their party ID. The flyers extolled his goals, in this case primarily to create jobs by using Council Bluffs attractions to bring new businesses to the area, thereby converting Council Bluffs from a bedroom suburb of Omaha to a full blown city with its own strong economy. Each flyer also had his phone number and invited voters to phone him with any questions. He says that no one ever phoned him, but it was beneficial to let them know that he was accessible and wanted to be in touch with them.
Going to every voter’s home was critical for a poorly financed neophyte law student to defeat a respected former mayor.
Once elected, he did work on attracting industry and helped bring Google to the area where they bought thousands of acres and are building the largest information storage center in the world.
In the next city council election, Matt also won the primary and final elections.
Matt’s energy comes from an athletic body. In high school in the Des Moines area he was a varsity wrestler and ran cross country. His early working to accomplish goals was illustrated by his earning his Eagle Scout award.
This year, Matt ran for Secretary of State of Iowa. At the age of 30, he defeated in the Republican Primary two long time Iowans, one of whom had served in the legislature, with a 36,000+ 20 percent margin over the higher contender.
How did this 30 year old achieve this remarkable fifth victory in Iowa politics? With his and Zola’s attractive personal qualities, they focused on a campaign for honest elections, which the Secretary of State supervises. His major point was requiring photo ID when people vote. Apparently his opponents thought that was a minor issue and that he would not get anywhere because of his youth and inexperience. A subsequent poll that showed that 83% of Americans believe that people should show identification before they vote, demonstrated how well Matt’s thinking is in sync with the popular will. Currently the incumbent against whom Matt is running argues that Matt is only using that issue because it will help the Republicans. Matt’s response, of course, is Iowans want honest voting, whoever it helps, not Chicago-style politics.
Matt’s other political method was to use intelligently organized energy, intelligence and personality to replace big money. He planned a driving tour with meetings in the Town Hall of essentially every community in Iowa. He would stop and make his presentation regardless of the number of people and the immediately went to the nearest radio station and newspaper office to tell them what he had talked about. Since local media love to have such local stories, his earned publicity was as valuable as if he had had more paid advertisements.
Two polls have been taken. Both showed Matt at 3% higher than the incumbent with a significant undecided vote. Matt still does not have big financing and he needs more. However, he is helped by Senator Grassley’s popularity and strong reelection campaign and the popular former Governor, Terry Branstad, who is running a strong race for the Governorship. The Secretary of State position is immediately below the line for the Governorship on the ballot. Assuming that Matt will be elected and take office at the age of 31, he has many years ahead where he can fill that office – and others.
The Secretary of State position has come to be seen as increasingly important since last year’s Minnesota controversy in which, after the votes were counted, a new set of ballots was discovered. The Secretary of State certified the ballots, even though there had been no chain of custody. Thus the loser in the established vote count, Al Franken, was certified as the winner and went to Washington as Minnesota’s new Senator. Other Secretaries of State have been involved in vote count controversies in Ohio and Florida. George Soros has created a fund designed to keep as many secretaries of state in Democratic hands as possible.
So, Matt’s reputation for honesty is an attraction, particularly to independents. It is not surprising that Republican candidates for President are paying attention to Matt’s race and some have already contributed to Matt’s campaign.
Where did Matt get his intense love of politics? First, He was raised in a public service oriented family. His father obtained his Master of Public Administration degree at BYU. He accepted a position in the Des Moines city administration and has stayed there ever since. He is in charge of risk analysis and purchase of insurance. So the five boys and parents had lively dinner conversation about public affairs and policy. The second factor was Matt’s profound admiration for Ronald Reagan’s leadership.
Matt’s indefatigable wife was raised in Northern Virginia as Zola Flores where she graduated from the prestigious Thomas Jefferson High School. She subsequently graduated from BYU in Animal Science. She accepted a mission call to Des Moines, Iowa. After her mission she was employed at the US Department of Agriculture animal labs at Iowa State University. She now has three children and a fourth on the way.
To learn more about Matt go to votemattschultz.com and stopmauro.com.
Dr. Mark W. Cannon has a Ph.D. from Harvard in Political Economy and Government; worked in the House and Senate; was Chairman of the Political Science Department at BYU, Director of the Institute of Public Administration, New York, Administrative Assistant to Chief Justice Warren E. Burger for 13 ½ years and then Staff Director for the Commission on the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution (Level 1 position). In addition to writing books, he has written over 80 articles and has lectured in 18 countries.