Washington County residents will see new representation in the Iowa House next session, with three candidates running in the June 7th primary election.

Washington Mayor Jaron Rosien and Heather Hora are on the Republican ballot and Riverside resident Ty Bopp is on the Democratic ballot for House District 92. This newly drawn district from this year’s redistricting covers all of Washington County and portions of Johnson County, and has no incumbents running for reelection.

Rosien was born and raised in Washington County and is the owner of JP’s 207 in Washington. He was first elected to the Washington City Council in 2014 and has served as mayor since 2018. He tells KCII why he is running to serve in the Iowa Legislature, “I’ve been interested in state representation since I was a page at 18 years old. And I’m running for office because I wish to have a say in Des Moines for the people in this district. I want to be in the room where these decisions are made to have input for our people. It’s part of my genetic makeup to want to contribute and improve the situation for the State of Iowa and for Washington County and southern Johnson County in this district.”

Priorities for Rosien at the State Capitol are supporting agriculture and local industry, and emphasizing the importance of local control, given his background on the city council. He also believes mental health and education are more connected than ever, and while he may not have all the answers to these issues he hopes to find good solutions. Absentee voting is available in person at the Washington and Johnson counties’ auditor’s offices through June 6th with polls open June 7th from 7 a.m.-8 p.m. You can hear more from Rosien during Wednesday’s Halcyon House Washington Page on air and at kciiradio.com.