Who is Dusty Maeder?

Dusty was born and raised in Villisca - yeah, that one. Hailing from generations of farmers, truckers, health care providers, and other such laborers, he's seen far too often the struggles of the working class be exasperated by an out-of-touch ruling class, always coupled with the promise that our problems would just magically be old news someday.

Like many of today's youth, Dusty's upbringing brought challenge. As a child, he struggled emotionally and socially, unknowingly dealing with undiagnosed Autism Spectrum Disorder. In 2007, his parents separated, right before the Housing Crisis and the Great Recession. All these factors led to a lot of moving of homes and living situations. By the time he graduated from Southwest Valley High School, Dusty had been raised by a mixed village of folk-- parents, grandparents, step-parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, family friends, teachers, religious leaders, etc. He credits this experience as the source of his most core value, and what he views as his biggest strength- empathy.

Pictured above here are my hounds, Daisy (left) and Yakko (right).

On the right is me hiking out at Hitchcock Nature Center, one of our region's hidden treasures.

Dusty was initially drawn to Council Bluffs by Iowa Western Community College, where he attended and eventually graduated with an Associates in Media Production in 2018. Given the shift in population and size, this was a significant move for Dusty, and during this time he would find myself falling in love with many of the places and people he met. Unfortunately, a lack of housing and meaningful employment made it near impossible for Dusty to stay in Council Bluffs long after college. Although almost ten years have passed, plenty of young adults are still running into the exact same issue today.

Dusty managed to land his first journalism gig in the tail-end of 2019, working as a daily news reporter in small town Iowa throughout the beginning and height of the COVID-19 pandemic. During his time on the beat, Dusty saw both the best and worst of humanity on display, in a front-row seat, all the while gaining a further understanding of why unbiased, untainted media is foundationally essential to this state. Dusty came back to the Council Bluffs area in 2021, moving in with his now-wife, Shelby, a Council Bluffs native who he had befriended during college.

Eventually, Dusty was inspired to go back to school, this time for a major in Secondary Education with a focus on Social Studies. Dusty began working as a teacher's associate in 2023, later acquiring the authorization to fill in as a substitute, something in desperate need during the nationwide teaching shortage. His time as a student of history has broadened his understanding of just how deeply rooted some of these issues are, as well as the ways in which the systems of government are intended to operate. Dusty has spent the last couple years working in all-age classrooms, serving primarily children in foster care and juvenile detention. He says his students are the catalyst for this movement. The school-to-prison pipeline is real, and Dusty says seeing it firsthand was world-changing, and that any problems we are feeling the weight of as a society is being felt ten-fold by our most vulnerable populations.

As District 19's representative, Dusty wants to end the stagnation that has eaten up the entirety of his life. Dusty says he can see an Iowa with affordable housing, good wages, clean water, nation-leading education, and more. If elected, Dusty Maeder will be hard at work making that vision a reality. If that sounds like something you want to see, you've found your candidate.

When not busy learning or teaching, you may find Dusty hiking, camping, messing with his dogs, cooking with his wife, quilting, or getting his butt kicked at Magic: the Gathering.