Michael Bridgford said Saturday at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox that a couple of independent candidates, like him, in the U.S. House would be able to “push” for votes on issues like term limits, campaign finance reform, and chamber leadership.
Bridgford is running as an independent candidate in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District against Republican incumbent Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Democratic candidate Christina Bohannan.
Bridgford said he is a candidate for 1st District voters who are “frustrated” with Congress.
“People feel as though they’re not being represented, they’re not being heard, and we’re going to change that this year,” Bridgford said.
According to a Gallup poll from January, 45% of U.S. voters identified as independent in 2025. Bridgford said there is a “national movement” currently to support independent candidates.
Iowa’s 1st Congressional District is one of the less than 20 “toss-up” districts for the House.
The major-party candidates, Miller-Meeks and Bohannan, faced off in 2024, when Bohannan lost to the incumbent by about 800 votes.
“When Iowa 1 sends an independent to Congress, it’ll be the most important district in this country,” Bridgford said.
Bridgford, who is a small business owner from the Quad-Cities region, said affordability, agriculture and healthcare policies are some of his top priorities.
He said the affordability crisis is driven largely by increases to the country’s money supply and a lack of consistency in trade policies.
Bridgford also said he would push for proposals like price transparency and pharmacy benefit managers reform to help address the high healthcare costs.
When asked if he would have voted for Republican’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which made significant reforms to various programs, including Medicaid, Bridgford said he would have tried to “leverage” his position to “make it better for the average person versus just people at the very top.”
Bridgford said he grew up during the farm crisis of the 1980s, when his family lost their hog farm.
“Unfortunately, our farmers now are approaching a similar type of crisis to the 1980s, and the politicians are playing political football with ag policy,” Bridgford said and referenced the stalled progress on a new farm bill.
Bridgford said farmers need a new farm bill with year-round, nationwide E15 and more support for family farmers.
Speaking with reporters after the Soapbox, Bridgford said he was not supportive of certain Republican policies, like the Save Our Bacon Act, which would block states from stipulating how livestock are raised.
Bridgford said he is his campaign’s biggest donor and that he is in the race for the “right reason.”
“The parties, they just want to fight,” Bridgford said. “They’re not interested in actually solving the problem.”
Originally published on iowacapitaldispatch.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.
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