Iowa 1st District Democrats ‘suspend’ candidate forums

DES MOINES - Less than a week after announcing five candidate forums, the Iowa 1st District Democratic Central Committee has dropped its plan.

Citing scheduling conflicts, the Central Committee in the 20-county northeast Iowa congressional district issued a statement Sunday night saying it is 'suspending” its plan.

Here's its statement:

'Because of scheduling conflicts, the Central Committee of the 1st Congressional District Democratic Party is suspending the district- sponsored forums of Democratic candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives.”

In its statement, the committee said it will support candidate forums sponsored by Democratic county parties and non-partisan organizations.

The committee announced the forums last week, saying each one would focus on a particular set of issues, such as the environment or the economy.

However, only two of three announced candidates - Gary Kroeger of Cedar Falls and Monica Vernon of Cedar Rapids - agreed to participate. The third, Pat Murphy of Dubuque, did not rule out participating. According to his campaign manager, Murphy did not like 'the narrow focus of the debates.”

Murphy, Vernon and Kroeger are seeking the nomination to face first-term Republican Rep. Rod Blum of Dubuque. In 2014, Blum defeated Murphy, who had defeated Vernon and three others for the nomination.

The primary election will be June 7.