Republican Congressman Steve King says he hasn’t had a chance to “contemplate” a run for statewide office in the future, but he isn’t ruling out a run for the U.S. Senate in 2014.
“I know that’s something that’s on the horizon, the 2014, and I think there are some things, decisions that need to be made before I could comment on that,” King says.
Senator Tom Harkin’s term ends in two years and Harkin has not yet announced whether he will seek reelection in 2014. King just won reelection to the U.S. House, but by the narrowest margin of victory in his six congressional races. King’s become nationally known for his conservative views and for what King describes as candor, but what his 2012 opponent Christie Vilsack referred to as “embarrassing” comments. King rejects the idea that he is too conservative to win a statewide race.
“I think I have a consistent record. I think people know me. I have represented all of the western third of Iowa and this new district goes east to Chickasaw County, wraps around — in a way — the Des Moines market which we have been in, too,” King says. “…It looks to me like Iowans are common sense people. We do stand a lot on the same page and I don’t know why that would be an impediment at all.”
According to King, politicians like himself “should never apologize for the things that we believe in” and he promises to “actively and aggressively” try to promote conservative values.