Blum tops GOP field in Iowa 1st District

CEDAR RAPIDS – Dubuque businessman Rod Blum captured the Republican nomination in Iowa's U.S. House 1st District.

Blum won the three-way GOP primary Tuesday and will square off against fellow Dubuque resident and former co-worker State Rep. Pat Murphy in the general election race for an open seat in the 20-county district stretches from Marshalltown to the Mississippi River and Minnesota border and includes Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls-Waterloo and Dubuque.

The general election winner will succeed Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley, a Waterloo attorney who is running for the U.S. Senate.

With 75 percent of 436 precincts reporting, Blum, 59, was leading the race 54 percent to 39 percent for Cedar Rapids businessman Steve Rathje and 7 percent for Marshalltown attorney Gail Boliver.

Blum won 81 percent of the vote in Dubuque County where 11 percent of 1st District Republicans live and managed to capture 45 percent in Linn County – home to Rathje and 28 percent of the district's GOP voters.

Blum, who lost the 2012 GOP primary, hardly paused before starting his 2014 campaign. He repeatedly met with county party organizations and tea party groups to build grassroots support.

His strategy worked as a Loras College Poll in April found him leading the field with 17 percent with 68 percent undecided. Rathje was at 12 percent and Boliver was at 2 percent.

By mid-May, Blum had expanded his lead 31 percent and strong support among the 'very likely' to vote, more than double Rathje's support, which increased by about 3 percentage points between polls. A key may have been his stronger support among 'very likely' primary voters, campaign spokesman Matt Schneider said. However, 49 percent of the likely Republican primary voters were undecided.

Christopher Budzisz, associate professor of politics and director of the Loras College Poll, attributed much of Blum's support to his name identification.

'Blum is not an unfamiliar name to GOP primary voters in the area as he unsuccessfully sought the nomination last election, said Budzisz. 'Perhaps the second time's a charm.'

Rathje, who had run for the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate and in the old 2nd District, also concentrated on meeting with party regulars who are likely to vote in primary elections.

'If you elect me, I'm not the person who will say, 'I'll do this. I'll do that,' he told voters. 'I'm not a person who makes promises. I'm a person who finds solutions.'

He told his up-by-the-bootstraps story of starting as a machine shop janitor who worked his way up to machinist and supervisor before branching out on his own in 1992. His International Procurement Services, and later Genesis Group, businesses find domestic suppliers for companies that had been outsourcing production to foreign plants, he said.

The experience he gained reducing waste, cutting spending and finding practical solutions would serve him well in elected office, Rathje said.

Blum campaigned with a similar story of humble beginnings. His father dropped out of school in the 10th grade to fight in World War II and his mother cleaned houses.

After college, Blum worked in the software industry and eventually became an owner of a five-person company that grew to 325 employees in just five years.

His firsthand experience in the marketplace formed his outlook, Blum said.

'I've met a payroll, balanced a budget and solved problems for 24 years,' said Blum. 'Our firms have created hundreds of Iowa jobs and dealt firsthand with the burdens the federal government puts on the backs of business.

Boliver, a Marshalltown attorney, provided an alternative to the tea party-oriented Rathje and Blum. Attacked for his past contributions to Democratic candidates, including incumbent 1st District Rep. Bruce Braley, said his beliefs fall clearly into the traditional views held by Republicans: smaller government and conservative principles.

His top priority was addressing the national debt.

'We can't keep the same level of spending, because the debt just keeps rising, and there is an end. Greece demonstrates that for us,' Boliver said. 'We're a debtor nation, which means your strength in terms of your ability to do things globally is much less. You're much weaker.'

None of the Republicans ran a high-budget campaign. According to OpenSecrets.org, Blum raised $334,000, including $95,000 of his own money. Rathje, had contributions of $185,000 with $20,000 of his own money. Boliver raised $7,700, including $4,000 of his own money.

Blum used radio and TV advertising and brought in former presidential hopeful Steve Forbes to stump for him.

The winner of the 1st District primary faces an uphill battle as the 1st District has 25,000 more Democrats registered than Republicans.

'Whoever the Republican nominee is going to be, it's going to be a fight,' Budzisz told Radio Iowa earlier this week. 'It's going to be a tough one.'