Loebsack defeats Peters to retain U.S. House seat

IOWA CITY - To mark the 10-year anniversary of his first political victory, Democratic U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack on Tuesday did it again - winning a sixth-consecutive term representing Iowa's 2nd Congressional District.

Loebsack, 63, of Iowa City, defeated Republican challenger and relative political newcomer Christopher Peters, 56, of Coralville. Unofficial vote totals Tuesday, with 91 percent of precincts reporting, showed Loebsack with more than 54 percent of the vote to Peters' 45.7 percent.

'I am honored to be able to again serve the people of Iowa and our country,”

Loebsack said in a statement. 'Now it is time that we get back to work fighting for middle class families.

'I will continue to help move our great nation forward.”

Loebsack, who has been in Congress since upending 15-term Republican U.S. Rep Jim Leach in a surprising and narrow incumbent defeat in 2006, on Tuesday sustained a similar margin over Peters as in past elections. Two years ago, Loebsack topped Mariannette Miller-Meeks with 52.5 percent to her 47.4 percent. In 2012, he beat challenger John Archer 55.6 percent to 42.5 percent.

His widest gap came in 2008, when Loebsack topped Miller-Meeks with 57.2 percent to her 38.8 percent. But despite Loebsack's success at the ballot box, Republicans across the Democratic-leaning region have attacked his governing over the years. Some analysts said Peters - a Coralville surgeon with views leaning Libertarian at times - offered a different alternative.

Peters is fiscally conservative but strays from Republican norms on issues like abortion, which he opposes making illegal, and same-sex marriage, which he supports. Peters in October also released a statement disavowing the top of the Republican ticket.

'Neither (Donald) Trump nor Hillary Clinton have exhibited the character and judgment necessary to be president, and I cannot vote for either of them,” Peters said in the statement, in which he also expressed remorse for not speaking out against Trump sooner.

As results came in on Tuesday, Peters told The Gazette his campaign was still a success.

'We wanted to talk about issues substantively - in a fashion that's deeper,” he said. 'We were looking for answers to complex problems.”

He noted both his and Loebsack's efforts to 'dial down the heated rhetoric.”

'We wanted to be civil in our actions,” he said. 'And if we don't win, but we did accomplish our goals, we're still happy.”

Loebsack has enjoyed the strength of his district's Democratic populace - voters there have not elected a Republican president since 1984. But he's veered off the liberal course at times. Last year, for example, he voted for a bill making it harder for the Obama administration to admit Syrian refugees.

He's also stopped short of arguing for free college tuition and has criticized parts of the Affordable Care Act, although he voted for it.

In looking forward, Loebsack has vowed to work across the aisle on issues like health care, immigration policy and government spending, to name a few.

Previously a political science professor at Cornell College, Loebsack in his political post earns an annual salary of $174,000.

The 24-county 2nd district, which has a population of more than 778,000, covers most of the southeastern part of the state, including Iowa City, where the University of Iowa sits. It encompasses counties with more urban centers like Johnson, Scott, Muscatine and Wapello along with more-rural counties with populations under 10,000 like Osceola, Wayne and Van Buren.

It's mostly white and makes an average household income of $67,454, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. President Barack Obama won 56 percent of the district's vote in 2012. And as of Tuesday, the Iowa Secretary of State's Office was reporting 190,688 in the district had requested absentee ballots, including 84,999 Democrats and 56,780 Republicans.