Dave Bushaw

Bushaw was born and raised in West Union, Iowa, and earned a high school diploma from North Fayette High School. KCRG reported that he was 31 and a Hawkeye resident when he launched his campaign in November 2025.[6][3] He describes himself as one of the youngest self-made, first-generation farmland owners in the U.S., and Iowa Public Radio reports that he owns a squash farm about 10 minutes from his childhood home. According to his campaign website, as reported by KCRG, he started the squash farm, Solidarity Fields, in Hawkeye at age 19.[1][2][3]

Bushaw has been described as a longtime activist who began as an anti-war protester in the early 2010s. He has worked as a community organizer for 14 years and has traveled the country as a folk and labor musician playing for striking workers.[1][2] In 2019 and 2020 he was an organizer for Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign in Iowa, Nevada, and South Carolina, and he later worked for United Today, Stronger Tomorrow, an organization focused on political organizing in rural communities.[2][3]

Bushaw announced his independent campaign for Iowa's 2nd District in November 2025, saying that both parties "walked away from the people who built this country."[3] He campaigned on universal health care, labor rights, and breaking from the two-party system.[1][2][3] He received 2.2% of the vote to Lindsay James's 49.5%, according to unofficial results reported by NBC News.[4]