Gazette endorsements for 1st District Democrats and Republicans

Five Democratic and three Republican candidates for Iowa's 1st District seat in Congress are competing in the primary to represent their party in the November general election. Current 1st District Congressman Bruce Braley is seeking the U.S. Senate seat this fall.

1st District (D): Monica Vernon

This impressive field of candidates is deeply experienced. Pat Murphy of Dubuque is a longtime state legislator and former Speaker of the House. Dave O'Brien, a Cedar Rapids attorney, has worked extensively in constitutional law and labor issues. Swati Dandekar of Marion has run the gamut as a local school board member, state representative and senator, and Iowa Utilities Board member. Anesa Kajtazovic of Waterloo is an immigrant who, at age 27, already is a veteran state legislator with some fresh polish in the public arena.

All are credible, solid candidates. They don't differ greatly on most major issues.

As also describes Monica Vernon of Cedar Rapids. However, in making this difficult pick, we see Vernon standing a bit above this capable crowd, in part for some of the same things her critics complain about.

One: She's never served as a state legislator. But that's not a prerequisite. And her experience is amply wide and deep.

Vernon worked in public information, marketing and media, including a stint as a Gazette reporter, before launching what became a very successful small business: Vernon Research Group. She has a long list of community service involvement, and is a two-term City Council member and Mayor Pro Tem who has been a leader in making many difficult decisions in the post-2008 flood recovery. She has been tested under fire in many public venues, gaining valuable experience in dealing with a variety of state and federal agencies and officials.

Critics also point out that Vernon, a former Republican, switched parties. That was in 2009, long before deciding to run for Congress. Still, some wonder if she can be trusted to represent the Democratic Party.

More important, we think she can be trusted to cross party lines when it makes sense for her constituents and the country's best interests. Many times, she has demonstrated her ability to work with various factions and reach consensus.

Vernon is the best candidate to balance the needs of business while finding ways to help restore the middle class. She wants to invest in more kinds of education opportunities at all levels to build workforce skills, as well as rebuild transportation infrastructure and spur more innovation - all aimed at producing a more vibrant economy and a better quality of life for all Americans.

And her deep roots in Eastern Iowa would help her ably serve the 1st District.

1st District (R):

Steve Rathje

The three-way Republican race in the 1st District includes two candidates who have previously sought elective office in Congress but didn't make it past the primary election. Rod Blum of Dubuque lost in the 2012 primary for 1st District, while Steve Rathje was on the short end of a 2008 run for U.S. Senate and a 2010 bid in the former 2nd District. The third opponent is Gail Boliver, a Marshalltown attorney and the moderate in this race whose focus is debt reduction.

Both Blum and Rathje are successful businessmen who have conservative approaches on federal spending, taxes and immigration reform.

While the differences between these two are relatively small, Rathje gets our endorsement. He's much about supporting entrepreneurship and tax reform - sorely needed reform, we agree - and he lays out specific ideas. His long-range preference is to see the current tax system replaced with a Fair Tax but he's realistic enough to know that won't happen any time soon. He offers an interesting interim proposal that would involve tax holidays and tax rate reductions for both businesses and individuals. He projects that the plan would stimulate much more business investment, small business entrepreneurship and consumer spending that would generate more than enough new tax revenue to offset the rate changes and exempt periods, while expanding jobs for Americans.

His ideas on health care and immigration reform aren't as innovative.

However, Rathje strikes us as someone who won't be shy about pushing conservative, free market-oriented ideas while being open-minded about some reasonable compromises that don't betray his conservative base.

We think Rathje has earned a shot in November.