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Austin Ronald Frerick (born January 17th, 1989) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Iowa. In 2017, Frerick announced he would challenge Republican Congressman David Young for his seat in the United States House of Representatives representing Iowa’s 3rd congressional district. He is running as a Democrat.

Personal life
Frerick was born and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He attended Grinnell College as an undergraduate, then obtained a Master’s degree in public policy from the University of Wisconsin’s La Follette School of Public Affairs. Frerick lives in Winterset, Iowa.

Career
Frerick worked for two years as an Economist at the United States Department of the Treasury. Prior to that he worked as a Research Assistant at the Congressional Research Service. His research focused on growing monopoly strength in the U.S. economy, executive compensation, and pharmaceutical corporate charity abuse.

Political positions
Frerick’s platform focuses on breaking up business monopolies. He has received attention for his vocal opposition to the proposed Monsanto-Bayer merger. Frerick has called on the United States Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Agriculture to block the use of Monsanto’s dicamba herbicide until further testing can be completed. He has also proposed using the federal Farm Bill to fund Iowa State’s Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, which had it’s funding cut in the latest Iowa state budget

2018 U.S. Congressional election
Frerick announced his run against incumbent Representative David Young on August 4th, 2017. He has received the endorsement of U.S. Representative Ro_Khanna, who represents California's 17th congressional district.