Latham calls new Iowa 3rd ‘good fit;’ confident he’ll defeat his ‘friend’ Boswell

AMES – They're still friends, but probably not BFFs now that U.S. Rep. Tom Latham has decided to run against Rep. Leonard Boswell in the new 3

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District created by the 2011 redistricting plan.

Latham, an Ames Republican, called the new 3

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, which stretches from Des Moines to Council Bluffs, “a better fit” for him than running in the new 4

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District where he would be matched against fellow Republican Rep. Steve King of Kiron.

“This new district, registration-wise, is better than the one I currently represent,” Latham said.

“I'm excited about where I'm going to be running and the opportunities there,” he added during a stop in Ames Thursday. “I feel very, very good about it. I'm going to be working my tail off.”

Boswell is equally optimistic saying on Iowa Public Television's Iowa Press, which will air

April 29 and May 1, that he's confident he can win in the new district. He's represented about 70 percent of the new 3

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District at some time during his legislative and congressional tenure.

The new district includes Des Moines and 15 other counties in central and southwest Iowa. Boswell says he's accustomed to running in districts where nominees from either party have a chance of winning.

Democrats have a slight edge in voter registration in the new 3rd. According to the Secretary of State's Office, 34 percent of voters are registered as Democrats, 33.4 percent as Republicans and 32.2 percent as independents.

It wasn't an easy decision to move and face Boswell, said Latham, who was elected in 1994 – two years ahead of Boswell. If he had stayed put, he would have faced King and that made no sense to him.

“For the future of country I believe it is important to get our fiscal house in order,” Latham said in Ames Thursday. “To have two of us go against each other who want to have that goal would not be productive.”

Once he reached a decision to run in the new 3

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, where he already represents three of the more populous counties, he went to Boswell.

“I said, ‘Leonard, I wish we never had to have this conversation, but the way it stacks up I'm going to be running in the 3

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,'” Latham said. “He understood, so we're still friends.”

The dean of the Iowa House delegation, Latham believes he has a lot to offer the new district. He's the only Iowan on the House Appropriations Committee and is chairman of the subcommittee on transportation, Housing and Urban Development and related agencies. He's also on the subcommittees for Agriculture, Rural Development and drug administration, and Homeland Security.

“So I'm in a good position,” he said, “I've worked with people in Polk County and throughout central Iowa for years and years … and I'll continue to work very closely, to do a lot of things for the district and for the state.”

He's also confident that King will win another term despite the possibility of a challenge from Christie Vilsack, Iowa's former first lady, who plans to move into the district.

“I think he'll win, certainly,” Latham said, noting that the new 4

“They both have good name recognition, but it's a more Republican district. It's going to be a battle.”  

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District tilts Republican. “It's going to be interesting to watch that race because it's going to take a lot of resources and a lot of hard work. It's a vast district.