Having spent most of her life in Grundy County, Iowa, Leila Staton watched as young people grew up, got their education, and got out of their home state. It’s a cycle that’s still repeating to this day. “People are leaving. And honestly, I can’t blame them,” Staton tells Her Campus. “College students and high school students are leaving within a year of graduation to another state where there is more opportunity, or their state isn’t targeting groups of people with hateful legislation, states without abortion bans, states with a higher minimum wage.” But Staton isn’t one of them — she’s staying, and she wants to turn Iowa into a place where other young people want to stay, too.
At 22, Staton is running for the District 54 seat in the Iowa House of Representatives with a mission to bring about more representation for young people. “Obviously, everyone deserves to be represented in government, but Gen Z is represented almost zero. And we’re the biggest and most diverse and most politically active generation,” she says. “The legislation that people are passing, the bills that we’re now living under, are going to affect us the most. They’re not affecting the people who are enacting the legislation. It’s a harsh truth, but it’s reality that these people will die before us and we will live through the bad legislation. I think that’s true for each generation at some point, right? Like, there was a point where Boomers were affected more by legislation than we are. That time has passed. Young people need to get involved.”
At 22, Staton is running for the District 54 seat in the Iowa House of Representatives with a mission to bring about more representation for young people. “Obviously, everyone deserves to be represented in government, but Gen Z is represented almost zero. And we’re the biggest and most diverse and most politically active generation,” she says. “The legislation that people are passing, the bills that we’re now living under, are going to affect us the most. They’re not affecting the people who are enacting the legislation. It’s a harsh truth, but it’s reality that these people will die before us and we will live through the bad legislation. I think that’s true for each generation at some point, right? Like, there was a point where Boomers were affected more by legislation than we are. That time has passed. Young people need to get involved.”
If elected, Staton hopes to help improve health care in Iowa, with a strong focus on reproductive rights. “I might have an unpopular opinion regarding this, but I don’t think there should be any legislation targeting reproductive freedom,” Staton says. “There isn’t legislation targeting chemo. There isn’t legislation targeting any other field of health care really. Why are we targeting reproductive health so much?” Staton has been organizing for repro rights since high school, having worked with Planned Parenthood and Reproductive Freedom for All, and advocating specifically for child sexual assault survivors. She sees the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022 as an obvious setback — but also, maybe, an opportunity to break new and improved ground for abortion rights. “I do think that now we kind of have an opportunity to build something that covers and protects more people.”
Staton’s other campaign priorities speak to some of the other top concerns of Iowans, no matter what side of the aisle they stand on. She wants to protect farmers from corporations that are buying up their land and improve public education in her district. She’s also dedicated to improving the water quality in the state. “We have really bad water quality and a rising cancer crisis,” she says. “We have really high levels of nitrates in our water from agricultural runoff. And so putting a stop to that’s really important for the health of all of us.”
When you visit Staton’s campaign website, the first thing you’ll see is her campaign slogan: “It’s cool to care.” And it’s something she really believes. “When I first decided that I was going to run for office, I didn’t want to just come up with a slogan, because I thought it was really corny,” Staton admits. “But navigating the political world, even before running for office, I was treated like I was the most apathetic voter … And I, being the only Gen Zer running in the state of Iowa, I was like, ‘I need to tell the truth about this. Like, I think it’s so cool to care.’”
Win or lose, Staton hopes her campaign inspires young women. “I hope that I can encourage more women and girls to honestly just have the gall … to have the audacity, because other people do. Why can’t we?” she says. “I’m hoping that women and girls in my district feel like they matter. Especially in these conservative towns with more churches than anything else, where they’re not encouraged to go to college or pursue a future that is their own. I’m hoping that they’ll open their minds and kind of think, ‘You know what, maybe I should do something for myself. Maybe getting married and having kids is part of my future, but it doesn’t have to be the entirety of my future.’”
The following responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Favorite thing about living in Iowa?
One, obviously the people. I love my community. Second is that we get all four seasons and I every year I’m surprised by how much I hate the snow and it keeps me on my toes.
What fictional character are you most like?
Lisa from The Simpsons.
What’s your go-to coffee order?
I’m a pumpkin like cold brew fan.
What song do you have on repeat while on the campaign trail?
Oh, there’s so many right now. I’ve been really into The Last Dinner Party. I got to see them when they came to Des Moines this past year. So good. “This is the Killer Speaking” is always playing. Also Hayley Williams’s new album.
What’s your favorite way to relax after a day of campaigning?
I do not have the greatest relaxing skills. I need to work on it. I unfortunately am a doomscroller, so I will doomscroll. I have my personal Instagram account that I’ve had since like high school and then my campaigning account. Both of them are full of political material all the time.
What is one stereotype about Iowa that you want to debunk?
That we’re all conservatives and that it’s a red state. You can even look through the election data from the past decade on, like, gubernatorial races and presidential races and it’s almost split 50/50 every time. It is not 70% Republicans, 20% Democrat, 10% Independent. It is like one-third Republican, one-third Democrat, one-third Independent. We’re not all conservatives — and we’re not all farmers either.