DMPS Board Chair Jackie Norris ends US Senate campaign after superintendent arrest
Des Moines School Board Chair Jackie Norris is ending her U.S. Senate campaign, citing the crisis caused by the immigration arrest of the district's former superintendent late last month.
"After thoughtful consideration, I have decided that I will no longer be a candidate for the U.S. Senate in the Democrat primary," Norris said Oct. 16 in a statement shared with the Des Moines Register.
Norris, a former high school government teacher, announced her candidacy in early August, saying "it's time for an educator in the Senate."
But less than two months into her campaign, she found herself at the center of a national media firestorm when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Ian Roberts on Sept. 26 for overstaying a deportation order.
Roberts, an immigrant from Guyana, was in the country illegally and has not been authorized to work in the United States since December 2020, before he was hired as superintendent in Des Moines in 2023.
Norris said fallout from the ICE arrest of former Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Ian Roberts "demanded my full attention as Board Chair."
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