Democratic Congressman Leonard Boswell says he’ll be able to catch up with Republican Congressman Tom Latham in the money race for 2012. 

“It’s 20 months away, so there’s lots of time,” Boswell says. “We’ve faced this before.”

Boswell, an eight-term incumbent, lives in the new third congressional district and Latham, who has won nine terms in congress, announced last week that he will move into that southwest Iowa district rather than run against Congressman Steve King, a fellow Republican. Latham has over $900,000 in his campaign war chest, while Boswell has nearly $174,000. 

“A little short, but nevertheless, yeah, we went through the last campaign without any debt,” Boswell says. “We’ve always had a challenge here.”

Boswell, who is 77 years old, says he never considered retiring.

“It’s a historical moment and, you know, there’s a lot going on in not just our country but around the world…and I don’t know when I’ve been better prepared to do what I do,” Boswell says.  “I’ve got the energy for it. I’ve got the desire to make things better.”

Earlier this week Latham called the 16-county district that includes both Des Moines and Council Bluffs a “good fit” for him.

“It’s a pretty good district for me, too, and so I’ll just concentrate on that. We’ve served 70 percent of it. Over nine of the counties of the 16 we’ve been in before for either as a state senator or a congress member and, you know, I fit with a lot of the people out there,” Boswell says. “I know them well. They know me and they kind of know what they get.” 

Boswell made his comments during taping of the Iowa Public Television program “Iowa Press” which airs tonight at 7:30.