Remembering Doug Butzier Former Candidate For US Senate
The story of a candidate who gave his life while fighting for the cause of liberty.
In 2014, I served as the Iowa Libertarian Party Deputy Chair of Campaigns and Elections. Among the names of people on my list interested in running for the US Senate were Charles Aldrich and Doug Butzier. Aldrich was the Libertarian nominee in the very close 2008 Minnesota race, where Al Franken defeated Norm Coleman for the US Senate seat.
Due to my position, I remained neutral in the Senate race; however, I met with Aldrich and Butzier. A candidate for Lt. Governor, former LPIA Chair Ed Wright, and I went to the Embassy Suites in West Des Moines to meet with Doug when he was considering running. Doug flew in, and we drove on a cold and slightly slick day. If my memory is correct, the weather prevented Chair Keith Laube from attending. I was impressed with his firm grasp of libertarianism. He told us he had to first check with his wife (I figured this meant he would not be a candidate).
At the Hilton Garden Inn in Johnston, Iowa, during the state convention, Doug, Chuck, and Rick Stewart (the 2022 Libertarian nominee for Governor) all ran for the Libertarian Party of Iowa nomination. Doug won the vote of the convention attendees and became our nominee.
Rick Stewart went on to run as an Independent candidate for Senate, and Aldrich has remained involved as a Libertarian candidate for US Senate, Congress, and currently the state legislature.
Doug spent the next several months campaigning across the state, and his speech and performance on the campaign trail not only improved, but he became very good at what he did.
He was kept out of a debate by security at Simpson college and treated very poorly by the media. I recall KCCI scheduling an interview with Doug only to rescind the invitation to him as they didn't find him newsworthy.
If my plane crashes, promise me you will investigate it."
A few weeks before his death, we were sitting at a pizza place in Cedar Falls when he received a call from a friend who wanted to host an event. During lunch, Doug joked, "My friend said running for office and flying a private plane is risky. If my plane crashes, promise me you will investigate it," he said, laughing. This conversation still haunts me.
A week before his death, Doug flew to Council Bluffs to pick up Lee Hieb, candidate for Iowa Governor, her staffer Don Brantz, and myself to campaign in eastern Iowa. I was running for Iowa Secretary of State.
We had a great time campaigning. Doug dropped us off at the Council Bluffs airport close to midnight. We shook hands and left for home.
October 13, 2014
“Dr. Doug has died!”
That September phone call Doug had received while having pizza in Cedar Falls was to schedule the event he was flying to on the 13th. Sadly, Doug's plane landed short in Dubuque that night.
On October 14, while walking out the door, I got a message from a friend that said, "Dr. Doug has died!" KCCI, the same news station that stated Doug was unnewsworthy, broke the story. I called into work and called state party Chair Keith Laube and Lee Hieb and broke the news.
As the Libertarian Party did not have party status in Iowa, the party could not replace Doug's name on the ballot, and 8,232 of us proudly voted for him in memoriam.
Doug's last text a couple of days before his death mentioned a paper that excluded my candidacy. That same paper called me up, asking me to confirm his death, and I was livid.
Doug's death forced the media to take a hard look at their coverage of our candidates. If his death was the biggest news story in Iowa and a major news story nationwide, perhaps the media had got it all wrong.
I remember writing a letter to several newspapers in Iowa and getting one response back from an executive of several newspapers apologizing and saying they would do better in the future.
And they did!
In 2018, I ran for Governor and me and my primary opponent Marco Battaglia received more media coverage in one year than the state party had in 45+ years combined. I genuinely think Doug had forced the Iowa media to change for the better.
To speak to Doug's character, Doug was short on petition signatures, and I had taken over $700 out of my bank account to pay for Doug's with the promise that he would pay me back. One problem. I didn't know Doug well and didn't know if he would ever repay me. As soon as I gave Doug the signatures, he sent the check right away, and I'm here to say that doesn't always happen in Libertarian circles.
Eight years later, the party has experienced many changes. Several of us have gone in different directions in life and politics. Still, I am confident that all of us miss the greatest candidate in the history of the Libertarian Party of Iowa.
I hope that Doug's work will continue to shine, and may it inspire us to take positive political action.
From the obituary.
Doug's family moved to Cedar Falls, Iowa, in 1960, where he attended Malcolm Price Laboratory School from kindergarten through 12th grade, graduating from Northern University High School in 1973. He started his college career at the University of Montana, studying Forestry. While living in Missoula, Montana, he began working as a fireman and then as an EMT, where he found his passion for the medical community. He returned to his home state to attend the University of Iowa to complete his undergraduate degree and then his MD from the University of Iowa Medical School in 1984. Doug completed his Emergency Medicine internship training at Deaconess Hospital in Spokane, Washington. He then attended residency training at the University of Arizona Trauma Center in Tucson, finishing this training in 1987.
Following his education, Doug worked as an ER doctor in the Twin Cities and Tucson before moving to Dubuque in 1997, where he has been with Mercy Medical Center. He has remained active in Mercy Hospital administrative duties, including serving as Medical Staff President. He remained in practice as an Emergency Room physician at the time of his death. In his continuous pursuit of learning, Doug obtained his MBA at the University of Iowa's Executive MBA Program in 2007. In addition, he was the Chair of the Iowa Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council.
