Heckroth encouraged by his first quarter of fundraising for Iowa’s 1st District

CEDAR RAPIDS - Democrat Thomas Heckroth will report raising more than $130,000 in the first quarter of his campaign for the U.S. House from Iowa's 1st District.

Heckroth will report contributions from more than 600 individuals across the 20-county district that includes Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Cedar Falls, Dubuque and Marshalltown.

'Retaking the 1st District is going to take resources and a commitment to showing up in communities large and small to talk with voters and build a campaign from the bottom-up,” said Heckroth, a first-time candidate from Cedar Falls.

So far, four candidates are vying for the Democratic nomination to challenge second-term Republican Rep. Rod Blum of Dubuque in 2018. None of the others have reported their fundraising to the Federal Election Commission. The third quarter filing deadline is Sunday.

According to the numbers he will submit later this week, Heckroth will report nearly $104,000 cash on hand for the June 2018 primary election. Also, he will disclose every donor, exceeding the requirement to name only those who gave more than $200.

Heckroth, 33, formally entered the race in July, so the third quarter report is his first. Other candidate in the race are state Rep. Abby Finkenauer of Dubuque, Courtney Rowe of Cedar Rapids and George Ramsey III of Marion.

Finkenauer reported raising $156,000 in her first quarter - about $136,000 of that for the primary - with about $120,000 cash on hand after expenses.

Blum's last report showed $200,000 in second quarter receipts and $751,000 cash on hand.

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