In the Senate race, economic policy provides a central distinction between the candidates. Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley emphasized that the private sector is the engine of job creation and growth, while his Democratic opponent repeatedly framed economic policy in terms of what politicians in Washington can do.

Grassley takes his governmental oversight role seriously, performing a needed watchdog role for citizens. He warned of the dangers of bureaucratic overreach and called for lawmakers to write laws more narrowly and specifically as one way to lessen the ability of bureaucracies to step outside their proper parameters of authority, in another notable contrast with his opponent.

His unapologetic partisanship over the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Merrick Garland was a disappointment, helping to feed the public’s cynicism about government. The senator, however, commendably agreed that compromise across party lines is crucial to passing legislation in the Senate. “It’s absolutely necessary,” he told us. Georgetown University last spring ranked Grassley fifth in the Senate in working across party lines through bill sponsorship. He discussed how bipartisan consensus-building will be necessary to get the Senate’s criminal justice reform legislation across the finish line.

Grassley underscored how vital it is for Iowa’s agricultural economy to have broad access to the global export market and how international trade agreements are a necessary tool in that task.