Congressman Bruce Braley. (file photo)

Former Congressman Bruce Braley. (file photo)

Former Iowa Congressman Bruce Braley has joined a law firm in Colorado. The firm of Leventhal & Puga announced in a news release that Braley has moved to Denver to join their practice.

Braley, a Democrat from Waterloo, served four terms in the U.S. House, before losing a bid for the U.S. Senate to Republican Joni Ernst in November. Braley had practiced law with a Waterloo firm for 23 years prior to running for Congress. The news release says Braley’s admission to the Colorado bar is pending.

The Leventhal & Puga firm says it specializes in personal injury and medical malpractice cases, and has plans to open an office in Iowa later this year. Braley says in a statement included in the release “I’m excited to be joining the outstanding team at Leventhal & Puga in Denver. Jim Leventhal has been a good friend and mentor for many years, and I’m looking forward to helping people seek justice when they have been harmed.”

Update 12:09 p.m.
A spokesperson for Leventhal & Puga says the firm has not made a final determination on where they will open their Iowa office, but it is likely the office will be in Des Moines.

Other former Congressmen:
The future of former Congressmen in Iowa is mixed after they’ve lost elections in the state. While former Congressman Greg Ganske returned to Des Moines and reopened his plastic surgery practice after his 2002 loss to Senator Tom Harkin.

Former Congressman Tom Tauke of Dubuque did not return to Iowa after his loss to Harkin in 1990. Tauke became an executive in the telecommunications industry instead and recently retired from his job as a vice president at Verizon.

Former Congressman Fred Grandy remained in the Washington, D.C. area after his 1994 loss to Governor Terry Branstad. Grandy became the chief executive of Goodwill Industries, then later served as the cohost of a morning radio show in the nation’s capital. He’s now a fellow at the Center for Security Policy.

Former Congressman Jim Lightfoot moved from Shenandoah to Florida, then to Texas after his election losses to Harkin in 1996 and to Tom Vilsack in the 1998 Iowa governor’s race. Lightfoot has been a consultant for a Canadian firm that sells forensics equipment to law enforcement and a consultant at a D.C.-based lobbying firm. He opened his own consulting business in 2009.

Former Congressman Jim Nussle became President Bush’s budget director after his unsuccessful bid for governor in 2006.  Nussle, who remains in the D.C. area, was recently named president and CEO of the Credit Union National Association.

Former Congressman Jim Leach served as head of the National Endowment for the Humanities during President Obama’s first term after losing to Dave Loebsack in 2006. Leach is now a visiting professor at the University of Iowa.

Former Congressman Neal Smith stayed in Iowa after his loss to Ganske in 1994.  Smith will celebrate his 95th birthday later this month. He lives in Des Moines and is currently serving as cochair of a statewide effort to spruce up the state’s parks.

Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson contributed to this story.