Clinton-aligned PAC targeting Blum in Iowa 1st District

CEDAR RAPIDS - One U.S. House member doesn't look as vulnerable as he did early in the election season, but that hasn't stopped a super PAC aligned with Hillary Clinton from joining the campaign to oust Iowa 1st District Rep. Rod Blum.

Blum, a freshman from Dubuque, has been at or near the top of Roll Call's most vulnerable House incumbents list for much of the year. However, as polls have shown GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump doing well in the 20-county northeast Iowa district that includes Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Dubuque and Cedar Falls, Blum dropped to ninth on the list. The Rothenberg & Gonzales Political report also moved the race from 'tilts Democratic” to 'tossup.”

However, with Clinton appearing to open a commanding lead in the presidential race, she is stepping up support for down-ballot candidates like Monica Vernon, Blum's challenger in the 1st District.

Clinton plans to be in Cedar Rapids Friday for an outdoor rally in the NewBo City Market courtyard, 1100 Third St. SE.

Priorities USA is going up with a 30-second ad in the Cedar Rapids market tying Blum to Trump. It opens with footage of Trump appearing to mock a disabled reporter. It then shows Blum telling the crowd at a campaign rally to 'Send me back to Congress, and you send Donald Trump to the White House.”

The Blum campaign is not surprised by the super PAC's spending in the 1st District race.

'Hillary Clinton knows our opponent will be a rubber stamp for her entire agenda, so it's no surprise her Super PAC is trying to buy this election so she can have a politician in this seat who reports to party bosses instead of the people of Eastern Iowa,” said Blum spokesman Daniel Sunne. Blum has taken pride in not following his party 'bosses” by voting against John Boehner for Speaker of the House and calling for a variety of congressional reforms.

Polls of the race have been a mixed bag with one - commissioned by his campaign - showing Blum leading by 16 percentage points. Two others showed him leading by 8 points.

More recently, a pair of polls by Democratic pollsters have shown the race to be much closer. One showed Vernon leading 48 percent to 47 percent. The other had Blum leading 45 percent to 44 percent.

GBA Strategies, whose poll showed Vernon leading, attributed the shift to perceptions of Blum's connection to Trump. Also, Democratic canvassers say they are hearing from independents and women in both parties that Trump is a liability for any GOP candidate.

'After all Donald Trump has said and done - mocking the disabled, disrespecting veterans, and degrading women - Congressman Blum still stands by him,” Vernon campaign manager Michelle Gajewski said. 'Blum has shown time and time again he puts his radical Tea Party agenda and love of Trump, ahead of what is best for Iowans.”

Blum and Vernon are to debate at 7 p.m. today at Sinclair Auditorium at Coe College in Cedar Rapids. It is being streamed live at kcrg.com and broadcast by radio station KXEL Talk 1540.