MEET KAREN
I’m a wife, mother of four, plant scientist, attorney, volunteer, church member, and friend. I grew up on my family’s dairy farm in Allamakee County and have been involved in agriculture ever since. I have a passion for helping others, and I’m committed to our rural communities.
As a state, we need to think long-term and make smart investments in education; it’s the foundation of our economy and our democracy. We need to respect the work of local elected officials, not consolidate more power in Des Moines. And we need to guarantee that every person has the fundamental right to make their own health care decisions without interference from politicians.
I’m grateful for life-long educational opportunities. After high school I went to trade school and became a court reporter. That job helped me earn the money I needed to attend Iowa State University and study agronomy. While in Ames I worked for Asgrow Seed and fell in love with plant breeding. I also fell in love with fellow agronomy student Warren Varley, and we got married – over 40 years ago.
After graduating we continued our educations at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. I studied corn breeding and became even more appreciative of Iowa’s deep, rich soils. Warren earned his law degree. We always knew we wanted to raise our family in Iowa, so with our toddler and infant we moved to the Varley homestead in Adair County in 1989. In a few years we were blessed with two more children.
I worked part-time for ISU Extension, helping families recover from the farm crisis and learning a lot in the process. An opportunity in the legal department at Pioneer Hi-Bred led to 18 years of employment there and the chance to go to law school on the side. With support from my family, I graduated from Drake Law in 2015 and later joined the practice Warren had started in Stuart in 1992. Recently I also worked for Midwest Partnership Economic Development, a local non-profit.
These varied work experiences have taught me that there's more than one side to every story. I've learned to listen and be open to others' ideas.
In our small-town law practice, I repeatedly see how legislators’ decisions impact our clients. Too often, those decisions benefit the wealthiest people and corporations at the expense of Iowans who are the salt of the earth. I’m running to bring their voice to the Iowa House.
Will you join me?
