Steve King’s comments good for fundraising, not much else, challenger says

PHILADELPHIA - As much as she cringes whenever U.S. Rep. Steve King opens his mouth, 4th District Democratic challenger Kim Weaver is enjoying the response.

'I wake up in the morning and go through my emails to see if Steve King has said anything stupid,” Weaver told Iowa Democratic National Convention delegates Monday morning.

Then she goes to work raising money off the seven-term conservative's outbursts, such as him saying it would be 'racist” and 'sexist” to replace President Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill with Harriet Tubman, a slavery abolitionist and supporter of women's suffrage.

Weaver has raised about $30,000 off fundraising appeals over King's remarks.

'People are sending me tons of Tubmans,” Weaver said.

But as good as he is for fundraising, 'it has been disappointing” because King is such a misrepresentation of Iowa and Iowans, she said.

'We want to show that Iowans are not bigots. We're not narrow-minded,” Weaver said. 'We're kind, we're generous and we really want to focus on solutions.”

Weaver believes King purposely makes his attention-getting comments during election years because he wants the attention.

'Why does he need to get attention? Because he's not doing anything else,” Weaver said. 'So not only is he the most offensive member of Congress, he's the least effective.”

She's running in the overwhelmingly Republican northwestern Iowa district because 'we need to focus on solutions for real people.”

One solution Weaver suggested was expanding the AmeriCorps Vista volunteer programs to help recent college graduates receive student loan forgiveness in exchange for volunteering in their communities.

'So if we can convince a young graduate to come back to the 4th District, back to Iowa, maybe we won't lose our congressional districts and we'll be able to further the quality of life of people who live in our districts,” she said.