Blum defeats Murphy to win District 1 Congressional seat

DUBUQUE — Republican Rod Blum edged out Democrat Pat Murphy for the District 1 Congressional seat on Tuesday night.

At 11:35 p.m., with 352 of the 436 precincts reporting, Blum had nabbed 51 percent of the vote, or 142,305 votes, while Murphy had secured 49 percent of the vote, or 135,973, in a hard-fought battle to replace Democrat Rep. Bruce Braley, who ran for the U.S. Senate. Braley lost to his Republican opponent, State Sen. Joni Ernst.

'It was intense and unnerving,' Blum said about watching '20 months of blood, sweat and tears come down to two hours of watching numbers scrolling across a television screen.'

He called the win over Murphy, the former speaker of the Iowa House, 'overwhelming and humbling.'

Murphy said he had no regrets during his 25 years of service as a state representative.

'It's time for every good thing to come to an end,' Murphy said during his concession speech at Happy's Place in Dubuque. He addressed a crowd of about 40 supporters, reminding them to not give up the good fight.

'We talked about real democratic issues,' he said. 'But the voters wanted a different direction.'

He conceded that he hadn't always made everyone happy, 'but I did what I thought was the right thing to do. I'll never lose a minute of sleep for what I did as a legislator.' 

The northeast Iowa District, which includes Cedar Rapids, Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Marshalltown and Dubuque, has a Democratic advantage about 22,000 voters. According to the Iowa Secretary of State Office, the active voter registration split is 33 percent Democrat, 28 percent Republican and 39 percent no party. 

But that advantage didn't lead to victory for Murphy. 

Murphy, 55, has been in the Iowa Legislature for 25 years. The former speaker of the Iowa House from Dubuque has proposed raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour and supported the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would ensure men and women are paid equally for equal work.

Meanwhile, Blum, 59, a Dubuque businessman, presented himself a political outsider. During the campaign, Blum spoke of reducing government regulations and tax rates while restoring Americans' confidence in the ability of Congress to get things done.

'We've got to quit playing politics with people's lives and with their businesses,' Blum said. 'I think that's doable.'

Both candidates brought in heavy hitters from their respective parties to help their campaign efforts throughout the election. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Texas Gov. Rick Perry came to Iowa to stump for Blum, while Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley came to Murphy's aid.

The race also attracted a significant amount of outside money, with both the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee devoting more than $ 1 million for TV ads in both the 1st and 2nd congressional districts.