Election Profile: Iowa’s 5th Congressional District (2008)
Smart Politics is running a series of election profiles of all the Upper Midwestern U.S. Senate and U.S. House races leading up to the November 4th elections. The series will culminate with Smart Politics’ official projections. The seventh profile in the series is Iowa’s 5th Congressional District race.
Candidates:
Republican: Steve King (3-term incumbent)
Democrat: Rob Hubler
Independent: Victor Vara
District Geography:
Iowa’s 5th Congressional District comprises thirty-two counties across the western wing of the state: Adair, Adams, Audubon, Buena Vista, Carroll, Cass, Cherokee, Clarke, Clay, Crawford, Decatur, Dickinson, Fremont, Guthrie, Harrison, Ida, Lyon, Mills, Monona, Montgomery, O’Brien, Osceola, Page, Plymouth, Pottawattamie, Ringgold, Sac, Shelby, Sioux, Taylor, Union, and Woodbury.
History:
Western Iowa hasn’t elected a Democrat to the U.S. House since Berkley Bedell won six straight terms from 1974 through 1986. King handily won the inaugural race of the newly drawn 5th Congressional District in 2002, beating Democratic nominee Paul Shomshor by 24.3 points. King then defeated Joyce Schulte by 26.7 and 22.9 points in 2004 and 2006 respectively.
King, a former state senator, serves on the House Committee on Agriculture, the House Committee on Small Business, and the House Committee on the Judiciary. The three-term Congressman has been one of the most outspoken opponents of illegal immigration and proponents of strict immigration enforcement. King also has been a critic of the financial bailout legislation, voting ‘no’ on both floor votes.
Democrat Rob Hubler, a Vietnam War veteran and retired Presbyterian minister, is campaigning in favor of increased regulatory measures and vigilant oversight of the financial industry, a national health insurance program, setting a timetable to withdrawal troops from Iraq, and increasing America’s commitment to renewable energy, such as ethanol, wind, and nuclear production.
Outlook:
King represents the most conservative and reliably Republican district in the Hawkeye State. His return to D.C. for a 4th term would continue the streak of at least one Republican representing Iowa in the U.S. House in every year since 1856.
Don’t let the last paragraph fool you. King is a flaming embarrassment to the good people of the 5th District. He only won the first time because he snuck in through a vacuum left by Greg Ganske when he tried to make a grab for Senator Tom Harkin’s seat in 2002. And since then, he’s only won every election because he hasn’t had a decent candidate to challenge him.
If the Iowa DNC would put up someone better than a punching bag to run against King, you’d see that totalitarian bigot get his clock cleaned big-time.
I think Ron has run a great campaign and he has a chance to win
Steve King is an embarrassment to western Iowa and its residents. He wants a fence built between Mexico and the United Stateds, and guess who he wants to build it? His son’s contracting company. His utterances this past year have been reported loud and clear across the nation by major news broadcasters and newspapers because of the absurdity and stupidness of his comments. Esquire magazine is begging the voters of Iowa to vote him out of office for the above mentioned reason. We, the constituency of 5th District Iowa, deserve good, intelligent, honorable, and respectable representation in Washington, and it is not Steve King.
C. H.
1. Bedell indeed is the most recent D to win a district primarily based in the West of the state, when he won his SIXTH 2-year term in 1984.
2. King, along with Palin, Inhofe, Arpaio, and others, actually turned out to be the harbingers for The Donald Trend – as pointed by BHO (regarding Palin) and others.
Good catch on Bedell – thanks!