Government : Meet the candidate: Dennis Mathahs

Dennis Mathahs was born in Marshalltown, IA and raised by his adoptive parents, Richard and Dolores Mathahs, in Manly, IA. Richard was the Chief of Police and a Teamster, and Dolores was an entrepreneur, making wedding cakes, selling real estate, running a dress shop out of their basement. She was also a civic leader, a passion she instilled in Dennis at a young age. Dolores served on the local church council, library board, and was elected to the city council. The family also owned and operated a car wash and laundromat, where a young Dennis worked to help support the family.

Dennis went to catholic school as a boy and had his first job as a paper boy for the Globe Gazette. He played football, basketball, and cross country at Newman High School in Mason City, but had to quit athletics his senior year to take a job at Perkins. He graduated a semester early and went on to North Iowa Area Community College, working his way through and graduating in just one year. He continued his higher education at the University of Iowa, but unlike at NIACC, Dennis did not graduate from UI until 1989, having to continue his work at Perkins to pay for school.

After earning his degree, he started working at NCS, now NCS-Pearson, working on projects for the U.S. Department of Education. He manned the FAFSA answer line, providing support for people who needed student aid to pay for college, and helped students who had defaulted on loans get back on track.

Dennis met his wife Meleah after college, and the couple had their only son, Jake. Jake was born in 1995, and Dennis became a stay-at-home dad for three years to take care of his son. Dennis also became a parent to his step-son, Dylan, who was one of Dennis' major inspirations to enter law, and now government.

Dylan has spina bifida, and when he was attending public schools in Iowa City, the school district was not willing to give him the accommodations he was guaranteed by law. When Dylan was learning to drive, the district refused to equip their learning car with the hand controls Dylan needed to learn, despite only costing $550. Dennis wasn't satisfied, and he lobbied the district, and won. Iowa City installed the hand-controls, and numerous kids have benefited ever since

Dennis's experience advocating for Dylan reminded him of an old dream: being a lawyer. He has always wanted to go to law school, but he didn't think he had the GPA after graduating from undergrad. But he studied hard, got a good score on the LSAT, and was accepted to the University of Iowa College of Law.

He started back at UI in 1998 and graduated in 2001, at the age of 39. Out of law school, he was hired at a law office that moved him to Marengo in 2002. The following year, he started his own law practice, has owned the business ever since, and has made Marengo his family's home. He served his community on the Marengo Memorial Hospital Board, as a member (and former president) of the Marengo Rotary, and as President of the Iowa County Bar Association.

Dennis and Meleah's son Jake Martin, who Dennis named after one his inspirations, Dr. King), is a sophomore at Harvard and is spending his summer as an intern at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, working to help prevent global warming. Meleah is a molecular biologist at the Department of Veterans Affairs, doing genetic and molecular research, and has been a long-time member of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).

Dennis is an avid amateur photographer and enjoys following the Hawkeyes in his spare time.

"I am running for Senate to make sure our state moves into the future on the right track. I will fight for fully funded public education and affordable college. I will work to improve our state's water quality. I will advocate for the mentally disabled, and I will push to raise the minimum wage. This election will determine the direction of our state and our country, and I hope to help make sure that direction is forward."�