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Get to know Iowa's Black candidates. Black Iowa News interviewed Jerome Amos Jr. who is running unopposed as a Democrat in Iowa House District 62 in Waterloo. Amos, who retired from John Deere Tractor Works after 33 years and has represented Ward 4 on the Waterloo city council for seven years, said he wants to address statewide disparities and "make things more equitable." The self-described "union person" whose grandfather was born in Buxton, a booming Black coal mining town in southeastern Iowa, wants to see Iowa improve. "That's one of the reasons why I do what I do. I have grandchildren in this community. I have sons who I would love one day for them to come back to this community and finish out their careers and life here," he said. "So if I can do something to make their life better before I leave this earth, that's exactly what I'm going to do." Amos has served in a variety of roles and as chairs on commissions, on a state board and in the UAW Local 838.
