Meet the Candidates

Dane Nealson is a junior political science major at Iowa State University.  He is the current treasurer of the Iowa Federation of College Republicans and a member of the College Republicans at ISU.  He also is currently employed as a clerk in the Iowa Senate, working for District 42 Senator Shawn Hamerlinck.  Prior to ISU, Dane was a three-year member of the College Republicans at Muscatine Community College.  In 2007, he founded the Iowa Wesleyan College Republicans, which earned the honor of Best New Chapter at the 2008 IFCR convention.  Dane has also been employed by the campaigns of 2nd congressional district candidate Mariannette Miller-Meeks in the 2008 primaries and the presidential campaign of Mike Huckabee in 2007.  Other leadership experience includes serving as Student Senate President at Muscatine Community College, where he founded the annual musical charity show River City Idol.  The show raised over $1,500 during its first three years under Nealson’s leadership, which went toward such causes as Hurricane Katrina relief, St. Jude’s Childrens’ Hospital, and the Muscatine Sexual Assault/Domestic Abuse Advocacy Program.

 

Matt Sexton is currently a freshman at the Univeristy of Northern Iowa, majoring in political science.  He most recently served as Chairman of the Students for McCain group on the UNI campus during the presidential campaign.  He was also recently elected as a Student Government Supreme Court Justice at UNI.  Matt has been a pivotal part of the resurgence of UNI’s College Republican group, which has grown to be one of the two largest chapters in the state of Iowa.  Matt’s political experience includes working as a page in the state capitol for former House Minority Leader Christopher Rants, working as an intern for Republican Party of Iowa, and campaigning for various local house races in the Des Moines area.  Other leadership experience includes a year as President of the Iowa chapter of Business Professionals of America.