Primary contests set in U.S. Senate, four Iowa congressional districts

DES MOINES - Four Democrats will be on the ballot in June to vie for the chance to challenge Iowa's virtual senator-for-life, Republican Chuck Grassley.

Patty Judge, a former lieutenant governor, and Bob Krause, a former lawmaker, added their names to the hopefuls seeking the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat Grassley has held since 1980 - the last time he received less than 60 percent of the general election vote.

They join Tom Fiegen, a bankruptcy lawyer from Clarence, and state Sen. Rob Hogg of Cedar Rapids in the four-way primary that Democratic voters can settle in the June 7 primary election for state and federal races.

Judge, an Albia nurse and farmer who served as lieutenant governor under Gov. Chet Culver and as Iowa secretary of agriculture, filed nominating papers after getting more than 4,500 signatures in less than two weeks.

'I'm excited to be on the ballot again,” said Judge. 'We're going to run a strong campaign and keep this momentum going.”

Krause, a small-scale real estate developer in Fairfield and veterans activist, also filed Friday with 9,761 signatures, or more than four times the necessary number.

'I am proud to say that we are an all-Iowa campaign,” said Krause, promising to raise the minimum wage, restore the quality of working class wages, protect Social Security and improve veterans services.

Fiegen has endorsed the economic reforms Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has called for, including campaign finance reform, breaking up big banks, raising the minimum wage, student loan reform and Medicare-for-all.

'I am a candidate with no Super PAC,” he said. 'I represent working Iowans. Our system has fallen far out of balance and it's time to fix it.”

Hogg is making Grassley's refusal to consider President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee a central part of his campaign. He called it the latest example of congressional dysfunction.

'The good news is we can get Congress to work again by electing people who want to make Congress work, and when we do that, we can build a better future for all Americans,” Hogg said.

To win the nomination, one of the four Democrats must get at least 35 percent of the votes cast in the primary. If not, the nomination will be determined at an Iowa Democratic Party state convention.

The close of the 2016 filing period also ended the speculation whether Democrat Culver, who served as Iowa's governor from 2007 to 2011 and secretary of state from 1999 to 2007, would return to the political arena.

'We'll just have to see” was Culver's response when asked Feb. 26 if his name would be on the 2016 ballot. When the dust settled at the Secretary of State's office early Friday evening, Culver's name was not on the list of candidates who had filed nominating petitions.

There had been speculation he would run in Iowa's 3rd District, challenging first-term Republican U.S. Rep. David Young of Van Meter.

Young will face a primary challenge from Des Moines Republican Joe Grandanette. The 61-year-old physical education teacher also sought the GOP nomination in 2014 but lost in a six-way primary race that was decided when Young emerged the winner at convention.

On the Democratic side, three candidates are vying for their party's 3rd District nomination - Desmund Adams of Clive, Mike Sherzan of West Des Moines and Jim Mowrer, now a Des Moines resident who ran unsuccessfully in 2014 against U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Kiron, in Iowa's 4th congressional district.

King is seeking re-election in 2016, but faces a primary challenge from Sioux City Republican Rick Bertrand who is midway through a four-year term as a state senator. The winner of the GOP primary will face Democrat Kim Weaver of Sheldon in the Nov. 8 general election.

In Eastern Iowa, 1st District Republican Rep. Rod Blum will seek a second term. He'll be challenged by either former Cedar Rapids City Council member Monica Vernon or former Dubuque legislator Pat Murphy, who are seeking the Democratic nomination. Murphy defeated Vernon in a five-way primary in 2014 before losing to Blum in what turned out to be a Republican wave. The party is hoping for heavier Democratic turnout in a presidential election year.

In Iowa's 2nd District, five-term Democratic Rep. Dave Loebsack of Iowa City is running again. Republicans say Chris Peters, an Iowa City doctor, filed his nomination papers Friday afternoon.

Candidates who have no party affiliation or who are affiliated with a non-party political organization do not appear on a primary ballot. They must file during the general election period Aug. 1-19 to have their names placed on the ballot.

If a party has no candidate on the ballot after the June 7 primary, it may select a nominee at a legislative district convention.