Kevin Hall reports for The Iowa Republican today that Muscatine County GOP Vice Chair Mark Cisneros plans to run for Iowa House district 91 next year. The seat is open because two-term incumbent Mark Lofgren is running for Congress. I expect House district 91 to be among a dozen or so districts that will determine control of the Iowa House after next year. Click here to view a map and the latest voter registration numbers.
Cisneros moved to Muscatine from California five years ago and owns a local business. According to Hall, former State Senator Jim Hahn “first approached Cisneros about running for the seat two months ago.”
Two other Republicans, Mark LeRette and Emily Lofgren (Mark Lofgren’s daughter) have already announced their candidacies in House district 91. Cisneros told Hall that the primary rivals “will sharpen each other, making the primary winner strong in the general election.”
2 Comments
Interesting
The plot thickens. I wonder how Mark Lofgren will feel about his own chances if Emily loses the primary.
moderateiadem Wed 31 Jul 9:23 PM
it's striking
that the Republican establishment in his own town doesn’t seem excited about his daughter running. GOPers in House district 73 seemed content to hand the seat over to Jeff Kaufmann’s son. Yet in Muscatine, the former state senator was recruiting this guy, and the past county chairman is also running.
When you think about it, why would Republicans want to nominate an early 20-something just out of college? They’ve got business owners and community leaders who have been active in local GOP politics for a long time.
desmoinesdem Wed 31 Jul 9:50 PM