Blum poll shows him with double-digit lead in Iowa’s 1st District

Seven months ahead of the November general election, U.S. Rep. Rod Blum is 'comfortably poised” to win re-election, according to poll results released Friday.

The poll of 400 likely voters in the 20-county northeast Iowa district that includes Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Waterloo and Cedar Falls, found the freshman Republican with a 12-point advantage over either of the candidates seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge him. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percent.

The poll found Blum, owner of a Dubuque software firm, leading former Iowa House Speaker Pat Murphy, also of Dubuque, 45 percent to 33 percent. He leads Monica Vernon, a Cedar Rapids City Council member and former business owner, 43 percent to 31 percent.

Despite the race being called a tossup or even 'leans Democratic” by political handicappers, the results, Blum said, show his re-election campaign 'will be in a strong position heading into the general election, regardless of which typical career politician the opposition chooses.”

'Voters are responding to my work in Washington where I am trying to reform Congress itself, enact term limits, balance the budget, protect our borders, and reignite our lackluster economy,” he said.

In addition to the double-digit lead, Kellyanne Conway, CEO of the Polling Co. Inc., who conducted the survey, said Blum 'is aided by a strong 16-point positive job approval rating with voters in the 1st District.”

The survey also found 43 percent approving of Blum's performance compared to 27 percent disapproving.

A Stone Research Services poll done for the Murphy campaign late last year showed Murphy faring better than Vernon against Blum, but losing to the incumbent 45 percent to 42 percent.