Iveson meets with friends, supporters

Iveson has been a legislative advocate for 10 years.

By Andrew Denney

Published April 25, 2008

Speaking in front of about 10 friends and supporters at a campaign event on Tuesday evening, Cande Iveson didn’t give an ordinary stump speech.

Iveson is a legislative advocate in the Missouri Capitol and a Democratic candidate for state representative of the 23rd district.

She said she knew talking only about the issues in front of such a small gathering — most of whom were friends of hers — would be inappropriate.

She used the event at northern Columbia restaurant Mackenzie’s to discuss not only her positions on political issues, but also her background.

Iveson has been a legislative advocate for 10 years, dealing mostly with issues relating to children.

Before working with state politics, Iveson worked in the private sector. She and her husband decided to adopt her son, Christopher, from Peru. In visiting the country, she said she saw a place where opportunity was in short supply.

After returning to the U.S., she earned a degree in social work from Washington University in St. Louis and began to work for Legal Services of Eastern Missouri.

“I wanted to do something that was more meaningful to me,” Iveson said.

Iveson said her experience in the Capitol and knowledge of Columbia led her to run for the 23rd district seat. She said she grew up on West Boulevard and said she remembers attending stump speeches for local politicians “at the old fairgrounds” with her father.

“I remember him talking to me about how privileged we were to be citizens of a democracy, and that it was not only our privilege but our duty to give something back to that,” Iveson said.

She said her familiarity with the community is one of the reasons she is the best candidate for the seat.

“You can sit up in Jefferson City and do all kinds of things, well intentioned things,” Iveson said. “But it doesn’t always translate to what happens in our community.”

Iveson said her principal political concerns for the state are health care and education.

She said she supports more accessibility for health care and said she is concerned for shortfalls in state funding for public schools in Columbia and academic freedom at MU.

Iveson said one of the things she learned from her experience as a legislative advocate was term limits — a total of eight years total in each chamber — hinder productivity in the state’s legislative bodies.

“Term limits create chaos in Jefferson City,” Iveson said. “People come in, they don’t know the issues — they don’t know their communities.”

Steve Renne, former director of the Missouri Department of Social Services, was in attendance at the event. He said one of his main concerns is children’s welfare. He said legislators do not pay enough attention to the issue and Iveson has been a consistent advocate for children’s programs.

“When push comes to shove, it’s hard to allocate money for kid’s programs,” Renne said.

Columbia resident Tammy Byington, who works for First Chance For Children said she thinks Iveson is the “best person for the job.”

“I think her work and her message is really rooted in the children,” Byington said.

She said the state has a low national rank about treatment of children’s issues.

“I think we need to change that,” Byington said.

Iveson has served as a legislative advocate to First Chance for Children.

She is running against Iraq war veteran Steven Webber for the Democratic nomination.