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Bleeding Heartland
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Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee 
Mon Apr 08, 2013 at 10:35:00 AM CDT
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A Democratic challenger to Representative Steve King has emerged for 2014. Citing an unnamed source, Abby Livingston reported for Roll Call today that Jim Mowrer is "all but certain to run" in Iowa's fourth Congressional district next year.
Some Bleeding Heartland readers will recognize Mowrer's name. An Iraq War veteran who used to live in Des Moines, Mowrer headed the Iowa Veterans for Joe Biden committee in 2007 and was Midwest Veterans Chair for the Obama-Biden campaign in 2008. Since late 2009, he has worked as special assistant to the Under Secretary of the Army in the U.S. Department of Defense. Mowrer has also been a senior adviser to Vote Vets, a political advocacy group focused on veterans' issues.
Livingston's source says Mowrer has met with Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee staff and will run in IA-04 whether or not the seat is open. I am still confident that Steve King will seek a seventh term in the House, but he hasn't ruled out running for U.S. Senate.
Mowrer could be a strong candidate, but the fourth district is very tough for Democrats. The latest figures from the Iowa Secretary of State's Office indicate that IA-04 contains 130,864 registered Democrats, 180,410 Republicans, and 178,050 no-party voters.
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Mon Mar 18, 2013 at 06:50:00 AM CDT
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On Friday the U.S. House approved a bill that would reorganize nearly three dozen federal job training programs into one fund providing job training money to states. Iowa's four representatives split on party lines.
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Thu Mar 07, 2013 at 08:20:00 AM CST
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Yesterday the U.S. House approved a bill to fund the federal government through the remainder of the current fiscal year. Dave Loebsack (IA-02) was one of 53 House Democrats to vote for the spending bill, along with most of the Republican caucus. Follow me after the jump for details and the latest sleight of hand by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
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Wed Dec 12, 2012 at 11:45:00 AM CST
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The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is paying for robocalls in Iowa's third and fourth Congressional districts accusing Republicans Tom Latham and Steve King of "holding the middle class hostage."
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Tue Nov 06, 2012 at 08:15:00 AM CST
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I planned to write several posts this fall about the third Congressional district race between Representatives Tom Latham and Leonard Boswell. Instead, every time I sat down to write about the campaign, I found myself turning to other topics. Central Iowa radio and television stations have been so over-saturated with cookie-cutter attack ads against both candidates. If a political junkie like me finds it off-putting, I can't imagine how disengaged other people feel when they hear the beginning of yet another negative commercial.
Neither Latham nor Boswell has offered a compelling case for re-election, but after the jump I review the main messages from both campaigns and from various outside groups that have been advertising in Des Moines and Omaha.
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Tue Oct 30, 2012 at 20:17:44 PM CDT
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This thread is for any comments about Congressional races you are following, whether in Iowa or in other states. Steve King and Christie Vilsack held their seventh (!) debate tonight, but I was unable to listen, because Windsor Heights holds trick-or-treating the night before Halloween.
Democrats are starting to talk about a net gain of U.S. Senate seats, but I am not that optimistic. While some races are trending toward the Democratic candidates, others where Democrats led last month are tightening (Virginia, Wisconsin).
To me, the most amazing development in a Congressional race is President Bill Clinton campaigning for Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota and recording a television commercial for her. Bleeding Heartland readers who are old enough to remember 1990s politics, could you ever have believed that Bill Clinton would be considered an asset to a Democratic candidate in North Dakota a week before the election?
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Tue Oct 23, 2012 at 23:39:59 PM CDT
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It's time for another discussion thread on any competitive U.S. House and Senate races. More detailed posts about the four Iowa Congressional districts are in progress, but after the jump I've posted the latest information on independent expenditures for and against the major-party candidates. Bleeding Heartland covered the third-quarter financial reports for the Iowa Congressional candidates here. Early voting totals for each of the four Congressional districts are here.
I've also added a few links on U.S. Senate races around the country. I'm amazed that Democrats still appear to be favorites to hold a small Senate majority. For me that has been one of the most surprising political stories of the year. Republicans could still win a majority, but they would have to run the table in the tossup races.
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Tue Oct 16, 2012 at 07:20:00 AM CDT
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The latest Federal Election Commission disclosure reports are out, covering money raised and spent by Congressional candidates between July 1 and September 30. Details from Iowa's four races are after the jump, along with information on groups that have made independent expenditures in each of the districts. The latest voter registration totals in the Congressional districts are here, and I'm updating absentee ballot totals for each district on weekdays here.
Any comments about these campaigns are welcome in this thread. I'd be particularly grateful if some Bleeding Heartland reader could explain what Tom Latham has been saving his money for, and why the PAC of the Credit Union National Association is supporting both Latham in IA-03 and Christie Vilsack in IA-04.
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Thu Sep 20, 2012 at 13:35:00 PM CDT
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Republican candidate John Archer is running his first television commercial since the primary in Iowa's second Congressional district. It's mostly a positive spot introducing the candidate and doesn't mention incumbent Representative Dave Loebsack by name. (The National Republican Congressional Committee went up on tv earlier this month with an attack ad on Loebsack.) The video and annotated transcript of Archer's commercial are after the jump.
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Fri Aug 17, 2012 at 10:05:00 AM CDT
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The National Republican Congressional Committee has reserved more than $1 million of television advertising time in eastern Iowa, although it's not clear how much the committee will spend to assist GOP challengers Ben Lange in IA-01 and John Archer in IA-02.
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Thu Aug 02, 2012 at 09:15:00 AM CDT
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The U.S. House voted yesterday to extend for one year all the tax rates established by the Bush tax cuts in 2001 and 2003. Without Congressional action, those tax cuts will expire at the end of 2012. Once again, three-term Representative Dave Loebsack (IA-02) and eight-term Representative Leonard Boswell (IA-03) were among a small group of Democrats to vote for a GOP bill.
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Thu Jul 26, 2012 at 13:10:00 PM CDT
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For a good example of gamesmanship on Capitol Hill, look no further than yesterday's U.S. House votes on offshore oil drilling. Republicans pushed a bill that won't go anywhere in order to score points against the president's energy policy. Democrats added language about U.S. sanctions against Iran and Syria to their motion to recommit in order to accuse Republicans of showing "reckless disregard for American national security."
Yet again, Representatives Dave Loebsack (IA-02) and Leonard Boswell (IA-03) were among the Democrats who voted with Republicans on legislation affecting the oil industry.
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Wed Jul 11, 2012 at 16:55:00 PM CDT
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The U.S. House voted today to repeal the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as health care reform.
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Tue Jul 10, 2012 at 07:20:00 AM CDT
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The U.S. House is back in session this week, and it's time for Bleeding Heartland to catch up on Congressional news from before the July 4 recess. After the jump I've posted details about how the Iowans voted on various bills and motions related to energy policy.
As a bonus, I've included some textbook sleight of hand by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. DCCC press releases hammered Republicans Tom Latham and Steve King for backing "Big Oil" interests during House debate on the Strategic Energy Production Act. But the DCCC glossed over the fact that Latham's opponent in Iowa's third district, Representative Leonard Boswell, was one of 19 House Democrats to vote with Republicans for final passage of that very bad bill.
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Wed Mar 28, 2012 at 06:07:36 AM CDT
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Democrats Bruce Braley (IA-01), Dave Loebsack (IA-02), and Leonard Boswell (IA-03) joined Republicans Tom Latham (IA-04) and Steve King (IA-05) in voting yesterday for the Senate version of a bill designed to help small business start-ups. The five representatives all supported the original version of the bill earlier this month. Republican Chuck Grassley also voted for the bill when it came before the Senate last week, but Democrat Tom Harkin opposed it over concerns it would further deregulate Wall Street and undermine investor protections. After yesterday's vote, Braley hailed the bipartisan action to "reduce small business restrictions," while Loebsack highlighted provisions he advocated to promote small businesses owned by womens, veterans, and minorities. I enclose those statements at the end of this post.
Also on March 27, the U.S. House approved a bill designed to weaken the Federal Communications Commission's ability to regulate. Iowans split on party lines. Follow me after the jump for details on that bill and various amendments debated on the House floor yesterday.
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Mon Mar 05, 2012 at 23:18:44 PM CST
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Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee officials have not commented publicly on State Senator Joe Seng's possible challenge to Representative Dave Loebsack in Iowa's second district. However, the DCCC has commissioned a robo-poll on the potential IA-02 primary.
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Wed Feb 01, 2012 at 08:27:35 AM CST
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Yesterday was the deadline for Congressional candidates to file financial reports on the fourth quarter of 2011. Details on fundraising by all the incumbents and challengers in Iowa are after the jump.
As I did last quarter, I'm covering the districts in reverse order, because the most interesting money stories came out of the new fourth and third Congressional districts.
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Fri Jan 20, 2012 at 11:28:30 AM CST
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The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee signaled this week that it is willing to spend additional resources supporting Christie Vilsack's campaign against Representative Steve King in Iowa's fourth Congressional district.
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Mon Jan 02, 2012 at 18:19:49 PM CST
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In another sign that Iowa's second Congressional district will be competitive next year, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has added three-term Representative Dave Loebsack to its "Frontline" list of vulnerable incumbents. Meanwhile, Loebsack's three declared challengers have been meeting and greeting Republican activists during the busy Iowa caucus season.
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Wed Dec 14, 2011 at 06:10:00 AM CST
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Only ten Democrats in the U.S. House supported a bill approved last night to extend the payroll tax cut and some unemployment benefits. All three Iowa Democrats crossed party lines to vote for this legislation, which has drawn a rare veto threat from the White House.
UPDATE: Scroll down for Representative Dave Loebsack's statement on this vote.
SECOND UPDATE: I've added a statement from Representative Steve King.
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