Laura is a mom, wife, attorney, author, and proud resident of West Des Moines. Laura graduated from Drake University School of Law in 2009 and has spent her career as a trial attorney in the criminal justice system. Laura's husband, Chris, is an associate professor in the Drake School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Laura has spent half of her legal career working as a Public Defender and the other half of her career as a prosecutor. Laura has used her legal experience and her voice to write a legal thriller series, the Ashley Montgomery Legal Thriller Series. Her books are fiction and written for entertainment, but they also draw awareness to concerns Laura has experienced while working in the criminal justice system. Laura has been a lifelong advocate, and will use her experience to be a voice for West Des Moines at the State House.

“Part of my practice as a prosecutor is in juvenile court, so I see first hand how we are failing our children and in turn, our communities. When we have children in need of inpatient mental health services, there is nowhere for them to go. In the fifteen years that I have practiced law, mental health services for both adults and children have steadily declined, and are now virtually nonexistent. Similarly, gun deaths and gun violence have increased in our state and we don’t have any real plans to protect our community. Our state continues to take away rights from Iowans, attacking our bodily autonomy, our schools, and our kids. This has got to stop. Someone has to do something.

 

So I decided I can do something. I can run.”