Democrats are pointing to new polling data from The New York Times and The Des Moines Register to suggest long-time fourth district congressman Steve King may have a race on his hands in 2018.
Iowa State University political science professor David Andersen said after eight easy races in a safe Republican district, King seems to be “vulnerable.”
“I think maybe we’re seeing a candidate who has potentially gone beyond what his district finds acceptable and did it in the unfortunately circumstances of a wave election year,” Andersen said, “and has suddenly turned an absolutely unassailable position into a competitive election.”
King faces a former professional baseball player who grew up in the district. Democrat J.D.Scholten of Sioux City has raised more money than any other opponent King has faced. Scholten said King is hurting the district “because of his ideology” and that has diminished King’s influence in congress.
“That’s the number one thing that gets me,” Scholten said during an appearance on IPTV. “He makes a lot of noise with a lot of controversial things and how that affects our district is that he’s not finding our economical needs.”
King said his supporters won’t be swayed because Scholten does not represent the values of the district.
“They have never seen such a well-funded, negative campaign that’s so misinforms the voters and so much money that’s coming from out of state,” King told Radio Iowa. “They’re trying to buy a seat from San Francisco and New York.”
There are about 70,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats in the fourth congressional district. It’s the only one of Iowa’s congressional districts that currently has a Republican voter registration edge.