Theresa Greenfield facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Theresa Greenfield
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Greenfield in 2021
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| Born | October 20, 1963 Bricelyn, Minnesota, U.S.
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| Education | Minnesota State University, Mankato (BA) |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Children | 4 |
Theresa Greenfield was born on October 20, 1963. She is an American businesswoman and government official. She also ran for political office. In 2020, she was the candidate for the Democratic Party in the 2020 United States Senate election in Iowa. She lost that election to Joni Ernst.
Since November 2021, Greenfield has been the director for USDA Rural Development in Iowa.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Greenfield grew up in Bricelyn, Minnesota. This is a small town close to the border of Iowa and Minnesota. She was one of five children in her family. Her parents were farmers who raised hogs and grew crops. Her father also worked as a pilot who sprayed crops from an airplane.
Greenfield helped a lot on the farm. She drove tractors and grain trucks. She also helped with bailing hay and feeding the hogs. By the time she was 16, she helped with the family's crop-dusting business. This included talking about contracts and marking fields.
She went to Iowa Lakes Community College and Iowa State University. Later, she graduated from Minnesota State University, Mankato in 1987. She earned a bachelor's degree in design and human development.
Business Career
After college, Greenfield worked as an urban planner. This job involves planning how cities and towns grow. Later, she started working in real estate development. This means she helped build new homes and buildings.
In 2005, Greenfield joined a company called Rottlund Homes. This company builds houses. In 2007, she became the president of their Iowa division. In 2012, she became president of Colby Interests. This is a company in Windsor Heights, Iowa, that works with commercial real estate. She is also part of several boards. These include the American Institute of Certified Planners.
Political Campaigns
Running for U.S. House in 2018
In July 2017, Greenfield announced she would run for office. She wanted to be the Democratic candidate for Iowa's 3rd congressional district. She was featured on the cover of Time magazine. The magazine called her and other female candidates "The Avengers."
She stopped her campaign in March 2018. This happened because her campaign manager made a mistake. Some of the required signatures to get on the ballot were not correct. Her team tried to collect new signatures quickly. But they could not get enough valid ones in time.
Running for U.S. Senate in 2020
On June 3, 2019, Greenfield announced she would run for the U.S. Senate. She wanted to win the seat held by Senator Joni Ernst.
On June 2, 2020, Greenfield won the Democratic primary election. She received 47.71% of the votes. She beat three other main candidates. One of them was Michael T. Franken, a retired U.S. Navy admiral.
After the primary, polls showed a very close race. Experts thought the election was too close to call. Many people believed this race could help decide which party controlled the Senate. Greenfield's campaign raised a lot of money. In one period, she raised $28.7 million. This was more than any other Senate candidate in Iowa history.
Greenfield received support from many important people. These included former President Barack Obama. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren also supported her. Several groups also endorsed her. These included the Iowa AFL-CIO and EMILY's List.
On November 3, 2020, she lost the general election. Senator Ernst won the election. Greenfield won only 8 of Iowa's 99 counties. She gave a speech that night and conceded the race.
Department of Agriculture
In 2021, President Joe Biden chose Greenfield for a new role. She became the Iowa director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's USDA Rural Development program. In this job, Greenfield works to help rural communities in Iowa. She works under U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. He used to be the Governor of Iowa.
Political Ideas
Healthcare
Greenfield supports the Affordable Care Act. She also wants to expand Medicaid. She believes in having a public health insurance option. This would give people more choices for health coverage. However, she does not support Medicare for All. She also thinks all workers should get paid sick leave.
She has asked for more government help during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. This includes sending money directly to people. She also wants to extend unemployment benefits. She supports giving more money to small businesses through the Paycheck Protection Program. She also called for a statewide rule to wear masks. This was to help stop the spread of the virus.
Social Support Programs
Greenfield supports programs like Social Security. These are programs that help people in need. She has said that her own experiences in life make her believe in these programs.
Campaign Finance Reform
Greenfield wants to change how political campaigns are funded. She supports overturning Citizens United v. FEC. This is a Supreme Court decision. It allows companies to spend unlimited money on political messages. She wants to ban money from corporate Political Action Committees. She also wants to make rules for lobbyists.
Environment
Greenfield understands that climate change is happening. She believes the government needs to act. She has connected climate change to events like the August 2020 Midwest derecho in Iowa. This storm caused a lot of flooding. She has also criticized Senator Joni Ernst. Greenfield says Ernst takes money from oil companies. She also says Ernst does not believe in climate change.
Personal Life
In 1985, Theresa Greenfield married Rodney Wirtjes. He was an electrician. He worked as a lineworker and was part of a union. They lived in Buffalo Center, Iowa. In 1988, Rodney was sadly killed in a work accident. At that time, Greenfield was 24 years old. She had a one-year-old son. She was also pregnant with her second son, who was born five months later.
Greenfield later married Steve Miller. They had two more children together. Their youngest son, Dane, is a member of the United States Army.
Electoral History Summary
In the 2020 Democratic primary election for the U.S. Senate in Iowa, Theresa Greenfield won with 47.71% of the votes. She then faced incumbent Senator Joni Ernst in the general election. In the 2020 United States Senate election in Iowa, Theresa Greenfield received 754,859 votes, which was 45.2% of the total. She was defeated by Joni Ernst, who won with 51.8% of the votes.
