Just one of Iowa’s five incumbent congressman will have a primary opponent in the upcoming election- as the deadline approaches for candidates to get on the state ballot. Third district Congressman Leonard Boswell, a Democrat from Des Moines is facing a challenge from former Des Moines lawmaker Ed Fallon.
First district Congressman Bruce Braley, a Democrat from Waterloo, is touring the state today announcing his bid for a second term, including a stop in Davenport. Braley says he hopes that the work that he’s done in the first district has given the people he represents the "confidence that I’m genuinely interested in improving their lives and I’m doing things in Washington to make that happen."
Braley says he sees signs that many independents and Republicans, who helped elect him in 2006, will vote democratic again. One is that 70,000 new Democrats registered across the state for the Iowa caucuses.
Braley says there’s still a lot of work to be done, "from jumpstarting the economy, to ending the war, to providing affordable healthcare, to taking care of our veterans."
A Republican may emerge to challenge Braley in the fall. State Senator David Hartsuch of Bettendorf has been collecting petition signatures required to attain a place on the ballot. In Iowa’s second district, Cedar Rapids businessman Peter Teahen plans to run on the Republican side in hopes of unseating first-term incumbent Democrat Dave Loebsack.
In the fourth district, Democrat Kurt Meyer has filed to run and would face incumbent Republican Tom Latham. Meyer runs a non-profit agency in Mitchell County. Fifth district Congressman Steve King, a Republican from Kiron, ended speculation today that he would make a Senate run, saying he’s sticking to another run for congress. Two people, Joyce Schulte of Creston and Ron Hubler of Council Bluffs are considering runs on the Democrat side in the fifth district.