Primary over, candidates focus on November

The ballot is set for this fall’s general election. In the first congressional district, democrat Bob Simpson of Iowa City beat Gregory Guy of Davenport. Simpson says he stuck with core Democratic values and the voters approved.Simpson will face republican Congressman Jim Leach in November. In the third congressional district, Jay Marcus of Fairfield beat Phil Ferren in the republican primary. Marcus will face democrat Congressman Leonard Boswell in the fall. Marcus, who was once a Natural Law Party candidate for the congressional seat and for Iowa Attorney General, says he’ll offer a very specific economic agenda.In the fifth congressional district, republican Congressman Tom Latham easily beat his primary opponent, Thomas Hall. Democrat Mike Palecek of Sheldon defeated Conrad Lawler in the democratic primary. Palecek will face Latham in the fall. He says he hasn’t focused on that race yet, but says it’ll be a big job.Palecek says he’ll focus on some key issues, military spending, reducing spending to free funds for school spending and improving the immigration policy.Iowa’s Commissioner of Elections predicts between 10 and 15 percent of eligible voters cast ballots in yesterday’s primary election.Secretary of State Chet Culver says there were only 17 primaries for seats in the Iowa Legislature. With 100 House seats and 25 Senate seats up for grabs, there could have been 250 primaries. The state representative accused of making obscene phone calls won his primary yesterday, but by just 38 votes. Representative Michael Cataldo, a democrat from Des Moines, has pneumonia and has won another delay in his trial on the charges.