Lange facing Braley again in 1st District

CEDAR RAPIDS - In Eastern Iowa congressional primary races, voters appear to have set up a rematch in the 1st District and given the Democratic nomination to a three-term incumbent in the 2nd District.

Based on unofficial results, 1st District U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley will face Ben Lange, an Independence attorney who nearly upset the Waterloo Democrat two years ago. Lange was leading Dubuque businessman Rod Blum in the race for the GOP nomination in the northeast Iowa district, which includes Linn County.

In the 2nd District, which now includes Johnson County, Rep. Dave Loebsack of Iowa City easily withstood a challenge from State Sen. Joe Seng of Davenport for the Democratic nomination 86 percent to 13 percent, according to incomplete results from the Secretary of State's Office.

And in the Republican primary in that southeast Iowa congressional district, Bettendorf attorney John Archer was leading Muscatine home-builder Dan Dolan for the right to face Loebsack in the Nov. 6 general election.

With 78 percent of precincts reporting, the secretary of state's website showed Lange leading the 1st District GOP race with 52 percent to 47 percent for Blum. However, in Linn County, Blum out polled Lange 50.59 percent to 47.6 percent. In Blum's home county of Dubuque, he ran up a 64 percent to 36 percent margin, while Lange was leading in Black Hawk County 55 percent to 44 percent.

In the 2nd District, the secretary of state's data showed Archer leading 61 percent to 39 percent. In Scott County he was ahead 60 percent to 40 percent, and in Johnson County his lead was 59 percent to 41 percent.

1st District

In the 1st District race, the candidates have hammered Braley for his support of federal spending, including the stimulus, and President Barack Obama's health care reform.

That spending, according to Lange, 33, will shift to future generations an unsustainable debt burden that is “flat-out immoral.”

He called for approving a balanced-budget amendment and capping federal spending as a percentage of gross domestic product. He also wants to reformthe budget process so members have to look at the impact of spending beyond 10 years “so they know the expense they are passing on to the next generation.”

Blum argued that his experience rather than Lange's presents a sharper contrast to Braley, who he described as a “career politician and trial lawyer.”

“I'm a job creator. I started a business. I've created over 400 jobs ... met a payroll every week for 21 straight years,” Blum said. That's a better contrast, he said, than a 33-year-old lawyer “who wants to be a career politician.”

One thing the candidates agreed on was that Lange's near-upset of Braley two years ago didn't automatically qualify him for a rematch. An unknown candidate with little party support, Lange managed to come within 2 percentage points of beating Braley and held the two-term incumbent to less than 50 percent of the vote.

Braley, who was unopposed for the nomination, released a statement saying he is looking forward to a spirited campaign focused on his record of job creation, affordable education and honoring veterans.

“I'm running for re-election because there is still work to do,” Braley said, “and the only way we're going to fix the mess in Washington is by sending people there who have the experience to bring people together and get things done.”

2nd District

Archer and Dolan had few differences on the issues. They criticized Obama and congressional Democrats for spending too much, regulating too much and being too intrusive in the health care field.

Where they differ is their resumes. Both men say their own experiences and professional occupations best suit them to face Loebsack, who moved into the district from Linn County after the recent redistricting to avoid running against Braley.

Archer argued that his experience as an attorney and business owner gave him a “deeper and broader understanding” of the issues than his rival.

Dolan countered that his up-from-the-bootstraps self-sufficiency fits with a working-class, mostly rural, district: “I'm a job creator. I'm an entrepreneur.”