Iowa 1st District Democratic candidates make case for nomination

CEDAR RAPIDS - With just over two weeks left before the June 5 primary election, four Iowa 1st District congressional hopefuls each took a stab at making the case they are the best Democrat to take on incumbent Rep. Rod Blum in November.

After delivering their stump speeches to about three dozen members of the Democratic Linn County Phoenix Club on Saturday afternoon, Abby Finkenauer, Thomas Heckroth, George Ramsey and Courtney Rowe were asked to explain what makes them the best general election challenger to Blum, a two-term Dubuque Republican.

They're competing for the Democratic nomination for U.S. House in the 20-county 1st District that includes Cedar Rapids, Marshalltown, Dubuque and Waterloo-Cedar Falls.

Rowe, an aerospace engineer from Cedar Rapids who served in the Air Force Reserves, made the case that as a candidate who has not taken any contributions from political action committees or lobbyists, she presents the strongest contrast to Blum - whose 'whole campaign is funded by the Koch brothers.”

'I think we attack him on PACs. We attack him on lobbyist money,” she said.

She's best-positioned to do that because her campaign is funded completely by small-dollar donations, she said.

'I can expose him on his lies,” Rowe said. 'That's what we have to do because when you're running against an incumbent, you have to make the case that not only what you are going to do that's better, not only what you're going to get done that's better, but also what they are failing to do.”

Ramsey, who served 31 years in the Army before retiring in Cedar Rapids, where he works for a nonprofit, thinks he poses a 'very significant” challenge to Blum because of his personal and professional experience. He's seeing more effort by Blum to reach out to veterans and veterans' organizations.

'He's starting to do more work with veterans. He's starting to really strengthen his ability to be more veteran-friendly,” Ramsey said. 'What I say to that is you can't out-vet a vet … someone who has dedicated their life to serving people in their communities, serving his country.”

That experience makes him best able to 'stand toe-to-toe with Rod Blum and be able to make Republicans, independents and people who don't vote feel good about walking into a voting booth and voting for George Ramsey.”

Heckroth, who worked for Sen. Tom Harkin, emphasized his experience and accomplishments. Although Blum talks about saving taxpayer money, Heckroth said he worked with Harkin to draft legislation to save the federal government $60 million. In contrast to majority Republicans who weren't able to pass their own farm bill, he said he helped Harkin win passage of a farm bill that received more votes than any in recent history.

'We're dealing with complete dysfunction,” he said. 'We need somebody who has the experience and knowledge, the ability to go toe-to-toe with (Blum) … to hold him accountable for his poor decision-making, his terrible voting record and backward priorities.”

Heckroth also noted his experience in the Obama administration's Department of Labor, where he worked to hold corporations and trade partners to international labor standards.

Although Finkenauer and Blum both were elected in 2014 - to the Iowa Legislature and Congress, respectively - that's where the similarity ends, she said.

'We actually might have grown up in Dubuque, kind of similar, but it's very clear he's forgotten where he came from,” she said. 'I'm going to hold him accountable.”

She thinks she can speak to 1st District residents who voted for Blum and Donald Trump in 2016 out of frustration, but now are frustrated by what they see the Republican majority doing.

'Those are the types of folks who are my friends and family, who I've been fighting for every single day and absolutely need a voice in Washington,” Finkenauer said. 'I'm that voice. I have the record here in Iowa of standing up for them every single time.”

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