Pacific Junction Woman Attends Democratic Debate

It was an opportunity Fran Parr couldn’t pass up.

At the invitation of U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the rural Pacific Junction resident flew to Miami last week to be a member of the audience at the first debate of Democratic presidential candidates.
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I got the invitation about a week before the debate,” Parr said. “I talked to my husband about it and he said I should go.”

Parr was among about 300 members of the audience to participate in the first night of the debate that included Klobuchar and nine of the other Democratic candidates - Bill de Blasio, Tim Ryan, Julián Castro, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Beto O’Rourke, Tulsi Gabbard, Jay Inslee and John Delaney.

A native of upstate New York, Parr and her husband Jason first met Klobuchar this past spring when the Minnesota senator came to Mills County to get a first-hand look at the flooding n southwest Iowa. Several other candidates, including Gabbard. Delaney, Steve Bullock and Kirsten Gillibrand, have also visited the Parrs to look at the flood damage to their home and the Pacific Junction area.

Parr went to Miami with an open mind and said having 10 candidates on stage made it difficult to break down the debate and determine who the winners were and who may have made the best or worst impressions on potential voters.

“I like the debates where all of the candidates get to answer the same questions,” she said.

One of the candidates Parr was pleasantly surprised by at the debate was Castro, who served as Secretary of Housing during the Obama Administration. Parr described herself as being a “centrist” and “pragmatic” when it comes to politics. At this point, she said she probably most closely identifies with Klobuchar and Sen. Michael Bennett of Colorado, but is a long way from deciding who’ll she’ll support in next January’s Iowa Caucuses.

“It’s too far out,” she said. “It will be so interesting to see how this plays out.”

Parr, an industrial engineer, said she had dialogue with Klobuchar’s husband and daughter and several impressive members of the debate audience, including  Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and Nicole Smith-Holt, whose 26-year-old son died from diabetic ketoacidosis because he was rationing his insulin as a result of skyrocketing costs. Smith-Holt is now an advocate for bringing down insulin and prescription drug costs.

“Some of the women I met really knocked by socks off,” Parr said. “I was in awe.”
Parr said she’ll continue to follow the presidential election process while she and her family contemplate whether or not to rebuild their flood-damaged home or move on. Fran and Jason Parr have twin boys who are 4 years old.

“Everything’s on the table right now,” she said. “It really comes down to economics.”