Charley Thomson
Republican | Iowa
Candidate Profile*
Conservative (Conditional)
*Additional information appears below for educational purposes; however, only data received prior to the candidate deadline was considered during Panel Evaluation.
BIOGRAPHY
Name
Charley Thomson
Party
Republican
Election Year
2022
Election
General
Race
State Rep., Dist. 58
Incumbent
No
Links
EDUCATION
University of Iowa College of Law, Iowa City, J.D., 1987
University of Michigan, College of Literature, Science and the Arts, Ann Arbor, A.B., 1983
WORK & MILITARY
Candidate did not provide
AFFILIATIONS
Roman Catholic Church, Parishioner
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
Chair and Co-Chair, Central Committee of Republican Party of Floyd County, Iowa, various
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
Candidate did not provide
Race
Previous Races
ENDORSEMENTS*
*These endorsements were received after the deadline and were not considered in the Panel Evaluations and are for additional educational purposes only.
CONSERVATIVE (2)
*National Rifle Association (NRA) PVF
*Iowa Right to Life State PAC
REPORTED BY CANDIDATE (1)
Farm Bureau of Iowa, NRA
SELECTED CONTRIBUTIONS
CONSERVATIVE
GIVEN BY CANDIDATE (5)
Chuck Grassley (2016)
Iowa Gun Owners Political Action Committee (2012)
Paul Nehlen III (2016)
Shannon Latham (2018)
Waylon Brown (2016)
RECEIVED BY CANDIDATE (2)
Local, County, and District Republican Organizations (2016)
Sandy Salmon (2022)
LIBERAL
GIVEN BY CANDIDATE (1)
Todd Prichard (2017)
RECEIVED BY CANDIDATE (0)
OTHER INFORMATION
Iowa Right to Life Voter Guide
QUESTIONNAIRE*
*Additional information was received after the evaluation was assigned and was not considered in the Panel Evaluations, therefore it is for additional educational purposes only.
RIGHT TO LIFE
Under what circumstances should abortion be allowed?
Human life begins at conception. No citizen may be deprived of life without due process of law.
Abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, should not receive funds from federal, state, or local governments (including Title X grants).
Strongly Agree
I support 'aid in dying' laws which legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia.
Strongly Disagree
ECONOMY
What changes, if any, should be made to the tax code?
The answer to this question is far too complex to be set forth here. In general, I support lowering taxes and spreading the tax burden equally. The tax code should not be used to create a political police force or to enforce political correctness.
What government spending would you reduce in order to balance the budget?
Again, a proper response to this question would require much more space than you have here. In general, far too much conduct is regulated in minute detail on both the Federal and state level. This needs to stop. The number of "administrators" can be significantly reduced. I would prefer that the U.S. exit the empire business and place American interests first.
Taxpayer-funded public education should be guaranteed through college.
Strongly Disagree
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
Individuals and businesses should be required to provide services even if it would violate their moral and/or religious beliefs.
Strongly Disagree
Under what circumstances can government close churches?
I cannot imagine a circumstance where the government should be authorized to close churches. We saw in the pandemic that even permitting a public safety exception to this quickly resulted in the malicious closing of churches. Accordingly, in the event of a public emergency, churches should remain open and parishioners permitted to decide for themselves if they are safe.
HEALTHCARE
What most closely matches your view on healthcare: A) Healthcare for all should be guaranteed and funded by the government with no private healthcare option. (includes "universal healthcare," "medicare for all," etc.) B) Healthcare insurance funded by the government should be available for all who want it, along with private healthcare options. C) Medicaid and Medicare should remain available, but no other taxpayer-funded programs are necessary. D)Tax-payer funded health care should be abolished in all forms, and Medicaid and Medicare should be de-funded.
B, with the caveat that only a certain, basic level of insurance should be subsidized by the government for the needy, and that subsidy depends on the relative prosperity of the political entity being able to sustain the expense.
Under what circumstances (if any) should a government, school, or employer be allowed to require vaccinations?
In light of the experience with the pandemic and the nearly instant jump into totalitarian mandates for vaccines, the government should not be permitted to mandate vaccination or to compel schools, employers or other entities to require them.
NATIONAL SECURITY
What should the United States do to help eradicate the threat of Islamic terrorism?
The U.S. should enforce existing laws against criminal conspiracies to commit murder, and should be prepared to issue honest assessments of the threat posed by various groups.
I support the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement to pressure Israel to withdraw from occupied territories, remove the separation barrier in the West Bank, allow full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, and promote the rights of Palestinian refugees.
Strongly Disagree
I do not support BDS. I support the rights of all refugees.
IMMIGRATION
The U.S. should do more to physically secure the southern border.
Strongly Agree
Who should be allowed to immigrate to the U.S. and under what circumstances?
A proper answer would require much more space than is available. I support immigration generally, but it should comply with strict legal process. Persons hostile to the U.S. or its culture should not become citizens. The U.S. should be generous in permitting political and religious refugees entry. Immigration should never be used as a way to advantage or disadvantage a political party or movement.
EDUCATION
I support school choice, including voucher programs, tax credits, charter schools, private schools, and home schools.
Strongly Agree
VALUES
Judeo-Christian values established a framework of morality which is necessary for our system of limited government.
Strongly Agree
I support adding gender identity as a specially protected class in non-discrimination laws.
Strongly Disagree
Marriage is a God-ordained, sacred and legal union of one man and one woman. No government has the authority to alter this definition
Strongly Agree
I agree with Critical Race Theory (CRT) which asserts that the institutions in the United States are fundamentally racist.
Strongly Disagree
Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
I am Roman Catholic and accept the teaching of the Holy Roman Catholic Church. I attend the Tridentine (Latin) Mass.
ELECTIONS AND VOTING
People should be able to vote without photo identification.
Strongly Disagree
What laws would you propose to change present voting practices?
The goal is to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat. I support returning to all paper ballots and poll books, with all votes cast on the same day (the only exception being for good cause shown). I support greatly increased auditing of election results and widespread use of snap audits and random testing of the integrity of elections systems.
EQUALITY
Is racism a threat to domestic security in the United States? Why or why not?
Yes. Encouraging people to hate others on the basis of race or to nurture grievances on that basis can threaten the domestic security of the United States. Favoring one racial group over another in law is a form of racism and can easily turn into a threat to domestic security.
Reparations should be given to people on the basis of race.
Strongly Disagree
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Which comes closest to your view? A) Stricter environmental laws and regulations cost too many jobs and hurt the economy. B) Stricter environmental laws and regulations are worth the cost.
Neither.
I support the use of hydraulic fracking to extract oil and natural gas resources.
Strongly Agree
ABOUT YOU
What do you think is the general purpose of government?
The first and general purpose of government is to create, through collective action, a zone of safety and security for its citizens.
When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to foreign policy and religious liberty, which of the following best describes you overall?
Very Conservative
Please provide publicly available information, including interviews and media reports, validating your answer to the previous question (other than your website).
I am not aware of any publically available information on the topic.
Have you ever been convicted of a felony or been penalized in either civil or criminal court for sexual misconduct? If so, please explain.
No.
What else would you like voters to know about you, including your legislative priorities?
My top goal is to protect the rights of Iowans. I am concerned that the Federal government and the governments of several states have become so corrupt and dysfunctional that, for the next several years at least, they may be doing more harm than good. We need to do everything we can to avoid the errors of other jurisdictions, preserve the rights and liberties of Iowans, and carefully craft policies that permit Iowans to thrive in freedom.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE & PUBLIC SAFETY
Police officers should be personally immune from prosecution for conduct consistent with departmental policy (qualified immunity) while on duty.
Strongly Agree
....provided that "departmental policy" has been duly authorized and is not in violation of the Constitution. Police officers who knowingly and wantonly violate the rights of citizens should not be able to rely on "department policy" to shield them from culpability.
I support redirecting funds from police departments to mental health and community programs.
Strongly Disagree
I support more robust mental health services, but I do not see robbing police funding as the proper source for paying for this. If successful, however, improved mental health services may eventually result in lower crime rates and, perhaps, a reduced need for police.
2ND AMENDMENT
What restrictions on gun ownership are needed to protect public safety?
Children should not have access to firearms without proper supervision.
Victims of gun violence should be able to sue firearms dealers and manufacturers.
Strongly Disagree
