Kevin Geiken and the ‘Choose-your-own-adventure’

New Executive Director of the Iowa Democratic Party talks of journey to politics

Kevin Geiken was just looking for a free burger and a soda when he wandered into a Charles City campaign office for Democratic Party Presidential Candidate Barack Obama in 2007.

     The Dumont native had been on a self-proclaimed “choose-your-own-adventure” since graduating Hampton-Dumont High School in 2000. After bouncing around three majors at Iowa State University (journalism, theatre and education) for five years, and completing his stint with his college non-profit organization, Geiken found himself in Charles City, taking a look at one of the 11 candidates vying for the Democratic Presidential nominee.

    “I always joke that I walked in that summer looking for a volunteer gig and it wound up turning into 10 years of my life,” Geiken said.

      Truth be told, Geiken’s involvement with the Obama campaign in 2007 turned into community organizing in Cerro Gordo for the Iowa Democratic Party in the 2008 general election, a stint with Organizing for America (OFA) — a community organizing effort with the Obama campaign, the campaign of Obama’s 2012 election bid, the national training director for the inaugural committee, which turned into political consulting in 2013 and 2014 — all to become the new Executive Director of the Iowa Democratic Party in 2017. 

     Read the full article in the March 23 edition of the papers.

     Listen to our whole interview with Geiken in podcast form below.  This is our first-ever podcast and we welcome your feedback at chroniclenews@midamericapub.com.