Working‑Class Values. Honest Leadership.
I’m Calvin Horn. I’m running for the Iowa House to bring working‑class values, real accountability, and basic human decency back to Des Moines.
District Priorities
Education
A literate society benefits all of us. Education is key to success in life. Any entity receiving public money should be accountable to the public for how those funds are spent. That means strong public schools, honest reporting, and no shortcuts when it comes to our kids’ future.
Health Care
Access to health care is a right. Mental health is as important as physical health. I trust science. No one should have to choose between seeing a doctor and paying the rent. We need policies that put people’s health first, not politics.
Fiscal Responsibility
Government spends your money. We need to be certain we are spending it wisely with as little waste as possible. That means asking hard questions, demanding transparency, and remembering that every dollar comes from a real person who worked for it.
Local Control
I believe that the people closest to problems are the ones best equipped to solve them. In recent years, we have watched state lawmakers strip power away from our local community governments with one-size-fits-all mandates. We need to restore and protect local control so that the residents of a community have the final say over what happens in our own backyards.
My History & Lessons Learned
I grew up in Cedar Falls. My dad ran the Heat Treat at Viking Pump's Alloys Foundry and was a proud union man. When I was 12 I started delivering the Waterloo Courier. At 16, I went to work at McDonald's. In 1974 or '75 I helped in the effort to unionize the Cedar Falls McDonald's. Management brought in corporate help and we were defeated. I learned a great deal from that loss. I graduated from Cedar Falls High School in 1976 and started at UNI that fall. I spent 4 years at UNI, mostly studying what we'd now call STEM. I moved into management at McDonalds. In 1988 I bought my first rental property. In 1991 I earned my Real Estate Salesperson license. In 1995 I got my broker's License and started North Star, REALTORS. In 2002 residential rental property management became North Star's principal business. My wife and I ran North Star until we retired at the end of 2021. Working in property management I saw things many people haven't. I watched families doing the best they could with what they had. I saw how a broken system punishes people who are already struggling. Those years taught me empathy and patience.
Core Beliefs
These are the beliefs that guide every decision I make:
I believe people are good.
I believe everyone should have the same rights as I do.
I believe in God, what you believe is up to you.
I believe in democracy.
I believe we are caretakers of the earth.
I believe children are our future.
I believe no one should go hungry.
I believe the social cost of not helping the less fortunate is far greater than the cost of helping them.
I Need Your Help.