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News Details

Political Cause

Des Moines Register

Juice

02/21/2007

 

Political Cause: Tyler Olson, 30, Democrat

 

His district: Iowa House District 38 - most of Southeast and most of Northeast Cedar Rapids, all within the city limits.  He was elected to his first term in 2006.

His hometown: Cedar Rapids. He rents an apartment in Des Moines and stays there Monday morning through Thursday night. "It's not easy," said Olson, who is married. "I definitely look forward to Thursday and going home to see my wife."

School: Government and history degree from Claremont McKenna College in Los Angeles, and a law degree from University of Iowa.

Why he ran for office: "I saw an opportunity to get involved at the state level," Olson said. "Be a part of some of the discussions of where Iowa is going to go in the next 10 to 20 years."

His other job: Lawyer at a Cedar Rapids firm. "With the technology now, I can do a lot of the things here in Des Moines that I can do in the office in Cedar Rapids," he said.

Age factor: Olson ran for an open seat held by a Democrat before him, so he thought he had a decent chance of winning from the start. "My age was something that I wondered how people would react to," he said. "The only people that even mentioned it to me during the campaign did it in a positive way. People were interested in a new generation of leadership, and a different perspective."

The campaign trail: Olson said he knocked on some 9,500 doors. "When you go to somebody's home like that, you get their honest opinion," he said. "People are less likely to come to a forum or a campaign event. I found that the more effort I made to meet people individually, the more I was able to listen to them, to have them share their views with me."

What he's learned so far: "I'm doing this an hour at a time at this point," he said. "People are very willing to help out, and offer their insight and advice. I receive the same reaction here that I did on the campaign trail: People are excited we have some new perspectives, and are interested in what we have to say."

His dream accomplishment: "Really capitalizing on the partnerships between our education system and our economic development efforts. The two go hand in hand, and you can't really have one without the other."

Etc...: Olson was an All-American swimmer in high school and college. "Two-a-day practices," he said. "I'd get to school when it's dark and leave when it's dark. I learned a lot of life lessons those days. I look back on it fondly." - Tim Paluch


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Committee to Elect Tyler Olson
P.O. Box 2389
Cedar Rapids, IA 52406
(319) 535-0635