2026 Voter Guide: Iowa Senate District 17
Updated: 11 hours ago
Election: November 3, 2026 | Live. Work. Thrive.: Education, Economic Opportunity and Essential Needs
Candidates: Samy El-Baroudi (Democrat) and Ronald Langston (Republican). This contest appears only for eligible addresses in Iowa Senate District 17.
What does a state senator do?
Iowa state senators vote on state laws, budgets, taxes, school funding and public services. They also consider certain gubernatorial appointments. An individual senator can introduce or support proposals, but generally cannot enact a law alone.
Meet the candidates
Samy El-Baroudi | Democrat
El-Baroudi retired in June 2026 after approximately 31 years serving Des Moines Public Schools students, including 21 years teaching at East High School and later work with Scavo and Virtual Campus students. He served as Des Moines Education Association treasurer from 2011 to 2026 and helped establish an Arab-American educators caucus within the National Education Association. His published biography also describes prior small-business, retail and sales experience and community board service.
Ronald Langston | Republican
Langston has worked in federal and Iowa government, business and nonprofit leadership. His published background includes national director of the U.S. Department of Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency, special assistant at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Iowa Transportation Commission service, and executive or government-affairs roles with FUELIowa, the Greater Des Moines Chamber of Commerce and Principal Financial Group. His campaign emphasizes entrepreneurship, healthcare access, education, property taxes and cooperation across political differences.
Compare their documented 2026 proposals
State income taxes
Samy El-Baroudi: Proposes restoring graduated income-tax rates so higher taxable incomes face higher rates.
Ronald Langston: Supports Iowa's current 3.8% flat individual income-tax rate.
Public-school funding
Samy El-Baroudi: Proposes increased funding, attention to past shortfalls and earlier annual funding decisions for school budgeting.
Ronald Langston: Calls for predictable and adequate funding, early literacy, science and career instruction, mental-health support and special education.
Education savings accounts
Samy El-Baroudi: Explicitly supports ending the private-school education savings account program and redirecting priorities toward public schools; also supports Area Education Agencies.
Ronald Langston: No explicit position on ending or retaining education savings accounts was established in the reviewed 2026 statements. His public-school priorities should not be interpreted as a position on that specific program.
Economic opportunity
Samy El-Baroudi: Supports increasing the minimum wage, union employment, job training and small-business development. The reviewed sources do not specify a new minimum-wage amount.
Ronald Langston: Proposes entrepreneurship initiatives, expanded access to business capital, incubators and neighborhood economic development. Full program funding details were not specified.
Property taxes and local services
Samy El-Baroudi: Emphasizes a different state income-tax structure to fund public services. No specific matching Capital City rebate proposal was identified.
Ronald Langston: Proposes a Capital City Tax rebate recognizing the cost to Des Moines of state-owned tax-exempt properties; a dollar amount was not established in the sources reviewed.
Healthcare
Samy El-Baroudi: Prioritizes affordable healthcare, reproductive rights and access to IVF.
Ronald Langston: Prioritizes affordable healthcare, maternal health and access to providers, and proposes examination of Iowa's cancer trends.
Water quality and cancer
Samy El-Baroudi: Calls for stronger agricultural-runoff oversight, environmental monitoring and public-health measures.
Ronald Langston: Proposes a bipartisan legislative review of cancer trends and possible contributing factors. The proposal does not itself identify a proven cause.
How should voters interpret these proposals?
Both candidates express support for public schools. Their documented statements differ on income-tax structure and in their specificity on education savings accounts. A lack of a documented position on a particular program is not evidence of support or opposition.
El-Baroudi describes labor, wage, healthcare and water-quality priorities. Langston describes business-financing, public-school and healthcare priorities and a Capital City tax rebate concept. Their statements are proposals rather than enacted results, and the sources reviewed do not provide complete fiscal estimates for each idea.
Neither candidate has an incumbent voting record for this Iowa Senate seat. Statements about future votes should be treated as campaign positions.
Original sources
Research and editorial note
This article is a nonpartisan voter-education resource from the NAACP Des Moines Branch. Candidate statements and proposals are attributed to their sources; incumbents' official actions are discussed separately from their future commitments. This guide does not endorse, oppose, rate or rank candidates.
Research review updated: October 31, 2026.
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