It’s day one of the General Election campaign in Iowa and Democratic Congressman Bruce Braley’s campaign manager is accusing Braley’s November opponent of engaging in “furious Republican spin.” Braley himself says challenger Ben Lange was wrong when he asserted last night that the new first congressional district is more Republican than the old first district.
“The demographics of this district are almost identical to the demographics of my current district,” Braley told reporters this morning during a telephone conference call. “What this race is ultimately going to boil down to is who is going better capable to represent the interests of people in the first district. I’ve lived in Iowa all my life.”
That’s a shot at Lange, a 33-year-old Iowa native who worked in Washington, D.C., before returning to Independence to practice law. This Braley versus Lange race is a rematch from 2010, when Lange lost to Braley by just under two percentage points. Lange last night accused Braley’s campaign of being bankrolled by trial lawyers.
This morning Braley accused Lange of getting the support of shadow donors who don’t have to disclose their names. “All I know is that there are indications that they are lining up to spend up to a billion dollars of secret, outside money in this race against candidates like me,” Braley told reporters this morning.
“And I think everyone in Iowa should be concerned about that.” Braley’s campaign manger also suggests Lange is a weaker candidate in 2012 as Lange “lost three of the new first district’s four largest counties last night.”