Pick a Progressive Patriot: Iowa - 2006 Here are the six Iowa Senate candidates we’ve selected as possible Progressive Patriots.   Staci Appel Staci Appel is running for the Iowa Senate from District 37, a district beginning in the southern Des Moines suburbs and spilling into rural Madison County to the southwest of Des Moines. Appel was a financial consultant for 11 years with Merrill Lynch and USB Paine Webber before leaving the professional world to raise her four children, Theodore, Jacob, Isaac and Olivia, ranging in ages from 3 – 10 years. Appel has been an active member of her community, chairing or serving on the boards of several organizations, including the Irving Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization, the Indianola Music Association, and the Mentor Iowa organization which is devoted to mentoring children who have been victims of abuse. She most recently led a task force which oversaw the fundraising efforts and construction of a Montessori pre-school which her daughter, Olivia, will attend. Staci and her husband Brent live with their family in rural Ackworth, Iowa. To visit Appel’s website, please go to www.appelforsenate.com. Bill Heckroth Bill Heckroth is running for the Iowa Senate from District 9, covering the northeast Iowa counties of Bremer, Black Hawk, Butler and Fayette. Heckroth is a longtime resident of Waverly, IA where he owns and operates Financial Architects, a small financial advising firm. He has been active in several community activities including serving as chair of the United Way of Waverly and Shell Rock, the Waverly Parks & Recreation Board, and the Bartels Lutheran Retirement Community’s Board of Directors and Foundation. Bill also serves as president of the Waverly-Shell Rock High School Booster Club, and is the founder and Director of the Coca-Cola Waverly Youth Baseball/Softball Tournament. In addition, Heckroth has served as an assistant baseball coach for both the Waverly-Shell Rock and Wartburg College baseball teams. Heckroth is a graduate of the University of Iowa where he earned a BS in Financial Management and played on the Iowa Hawkeye baseball team, earning 1st Team “All Big 10” honors as a pitcher his senior year and leading the Hawkeyes to the Big 10 championship and a berth in the NCAA Division I College World Series. To visit Heckroth’s website, please go to www.billheckroth.com.     Rob Hogg State Rep. Rob Hogg is running for the Iowa Senate from District 19, representing the northeast and southeast sides of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He is currently serving his second term in the Iowa House. In the Legislature, Hogg has been a leading advocate for public health and safety, education, the environment, clean energy, seniors, and better economic development. In addition to serving in the Legislature, Hogg is a practicing attorney with the law firm of Elderkin and Pirnie, P.L.C. in Cedar Rapids. He is a fourth generation Iowan and a graduate of the University of Iowa and the University of Minnesota. He is an active member of the community including volunteer work at Christ Episcopal Church, the Indian Creek Nature Center, and Monroe and Erskine Schools. Rep. Hogg and his wife, Kate, have three children. To visit Hogg’s website, please go to www.robhogg.org. Merle Johnson Merle Johnson is running for the Iowa Senate from District 35, a suburban Des Moines district including the cities of Ankeny, Johnston and Grimes. Johnson is a lifelong resident of Ankeny, IA where he owned and operated a small business for 43 years before passing the day-to-day operations to his nephew and son. He has served in several capacities within the Ankeny city government for the past 22 years, including 14 years on the Ankeny Plan and Zoning Commission, 5 years on the Ankeny School Board, and most recently serving two 4 year terms as the mayor of Ankeny. As mayor, Johnson spearheaded efforts to build a new 100 acre outdoor sports complex, a new city aquatic center, and worked closely with the Des Moines Metro Transit Authority to extend public transportation to the city’s northern suburbs through the creation of the Regional Transit Authority. Johnson and his wife Susan have four children and seven grandchildren. To visit Johnson’s website, please go to www.merlejohnson.com.     Rich Olive Rich Olive is running for the Iowa Senate from District 5, covering the central Iowa counties of Hamilton, Story, Webster and Wright. Olive is a lifelong resident of Story City where he owns and operates Norsemen Insurance & Realty. He is an active member of the community, serving as the president of the Story City Economic Development Corporation, as the announcer for Roland-Story football and the Scandinavian Days Parade, and as a board member for the Bethany Life Community Foundation, the Ackley State Bank of Story City, the Mary Greely Medical Center Foundation, and the Riverbend Golf Course. Olive is the past-president and member of the Story City Lions Club and the recipient of the Story City Lions Club Lifetime of Service award and the two-time recipient of the Governor’s Volunteer Award. Rich and his wife, Marian, have three daughters and seven grandchildren. To visit Olive’s website, please go to www.richolive.com. Becky Schmitz Becky Schmitz is running for the Iowa Senate from District 45, covering the southeastern Iowa counties of Jefferson, Johnson, Van Buren, Wapello and Washington. Schmitz recently retired from 27 years of service with the Southern Prairie Area Education Agency where she served as a counselor and school social worker in several southeast Iowa school districts. She has also spent time as an adjunct professor at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, and recently launched her own education consulting business in Fairfield where she lives with her husband, Ron. Schmitz has been an active member of her community and is a member of the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce, the Fairfield Cultural Alliance, and served as a Girl Scout Leader for 8 years. She and her husband have two children. To visit Schmitz’s website, please go to www.schmitzforsenate.com.