Vernon sees Blum as ‘part of the problem’ in Congress

CEDAR RAPIDS - Republican Rep. Rod Blum and his Democratic challenger Monica Vernon are wasting little time in drawing battle lines in their race for the Iowa 1st District U.S. House seat.

Vernon, who kicked off her campaign with friends and supporters Monday night, called the first-term congressman 'part of the problem” in Washington.

'In nearly everything he does, he sides with the very, very far right. In fact, he is voting with Steve King,” Vernon said at a campaign open house at CSPS Legion Arts. King is the seven-term western Iowa Republican U.S. House member.

For her part, Vernon told campaign supporters she was running 'to stand up for all of you.”

'We've got to get an economy that works for everyone,” said the former Cedar Rapids City Council member and small business owner. 'I think we need to invest in small businesses, invest in our communities, invest in people and education right here at home.”

State Sen. Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, called Vernon 'exactly the type of person we need in Congress today because she knows how to work together with everyone to move our country forward.”

However, Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said Vernon's recent comment that she was unable to think of a single thing Blum has done with which she can agree calls 'into question her ability to work across the aisle.”

Vernon listed several disagreements she has with Blum, including his mailings to constituents.

'He's wasting close to a half-million dollars so far on self-promoting ads and literature,” she said. 'I think that's really, really important. Those are federal dollars for members of Congress to run their offices.”

A Gazette analysis found Blum spent about $422,000 on mass mailings, newspapers ads and automated phone calls in 2015. That's about one-third of his $1.265 million communications allowance.

Communicating with constituents is part of the job of a member of Congress, campaign spokesman Jeff Patch said. Unlike other members, Blum 'does not waste money on first class airfare, personal car leases or a bloated Washington, D.C.-based staff.”

In fact, Blum returned $102,000 of his 2015 office budget to the U.S. Treasury and asked that it be used to pay down the national debt.

'That's fiscal responsibility,” Patch said. 'Monica Vernon may think engaging with Iowans where they live is ‘wasting' money,' but that's quite an elitist attitude from someone who supposedly aspires to represent all Iowans, not just partisan Democrats.”

The 1st District is comprised of 20 counties that include Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Marshalltown. Blum is considered one of the most vulnerable GOP incumbents because of an approximately 26,000 Democratic voter registration advantage in a district carried twice by Barack Obama.

'This isn't just a candidate. This is a movement,” Vernon said about her campaign. 'Come November, we can win this.”

Although Vernon has raised nearly as much campaign cash as Blum, she spent much of it on her primary election race. At the end of May, she had raised $1,402,326 to Blum's $1,486,503. He has $1,284,392 on hand to Vernon's $420,887.