King: Republican running for Harkin's Senate seat would face 'uphill battle'

Republican U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said the race to replace Democratic U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin would be an “uphill battle” for any Republican who runs.

King, who has more than a decade in Congress, made the comment during a taping Iowa Public Television's “Iowa Press” program Friday, where he was peppered with questions about his ongoing flirtation a Senate candidacy.

The congressman said he's been meticulously examining polling data, which he declined to share publicly, in advance of announcing a decision either way.

But, he said, “Iowa has turned a little to the left.”

For King, who remains popular with the conservative base in Iowa and nationally, the knock is whether he can win his Fourth Congressional District seat as many times as he runs for it but his brand of politics doesn't translate statewide.

King differs on this point.

“What position have I taken that's out of step with Iowans? I know of none,” he said. “I think I can win on that brand statewide.”

On other topics, King, a member of the House Agriculture Committee, said he expects a farm bill in “four to six weeks” that would include cuts to food assistance programs.

As for the ongoing sequestration cuts, King said President Barack Obama “convinced a majority of Americans and me that the only way we were going to get spending cuts was to allow the sequester to kick in.”

But, he said, he hasn't joined the camp of some in Congress who say they all should be left in place.

“The one thing in Iowa that affected us most directly was the sequestration cuts into our meat inspectors and the proposals that there would be furloughs of our meat inspectors,” he said. “I always said that will not happen, and I always said the USDA will have to walk back their words.”

The “Iowa Press” program with King will be broadcast at 7:30 p.m. today and at noon Sunday. The program also will be broadcast on IPTV WORLD (.3) at 8:30 a.m.Saturday. Iowa Press will be available online beginning Friday evening at

www.iptv.org.