Dubuque legislator considering Blum challenge in 2018

DES MOINES - Abby Finkenauer woke up Nov. 9 disappointed that Donald Trump was going to be president, that Republicans would control the Iowa Statehouse and that Rod Blum was still her congressman.

Now the Democratic state representative is considering challenging Blum, a Republican, who was elected to a second term in November. Both are from Dubuque.

'I knew what the election was going to mean for Iowa workers, hardworking Iowans I know, knowing they deserve to be represented by people who understand their lives, not just someone who gets on Twitter and tweets about it,” Finkenauer said during a recent break at the Statehouse.

She's been traveling the 20-county northeast Iowa 1st District that includes Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Marshalltown, as well as Dubuque, to visit with Democrats similarly disappointed with the election results. While Democrats were routed in the election, Finkenauer said they are 'anything but dispirited.”

'They are paying attention and they are mad. They're going to want somebody to represent them who gets what their life is like,” she said.

Finkenauer sees a disconnect between her friends and neighbors - 'who are the 'ones looking at how they are going to afford their mortgage payments if they are lucky enough to have one” - and Blum.

'Look, he's a millionaire. His friends are the ones worried about making those Mercedes or Bentley payments,” she said. 'I believe because of who he is, because of the fact that he doesn't understand what it's like to be a working Iowan anymore, that's the reason he doesn't represent this district. I know this district. These are my friends and family. My friends and family aren't Washington lobbyists. There's a big difference.”

A Dubuque native, Blum is the former CEO of Eagle Point Software and has owned Digital Canal, a software company, since 2000.

Finkenauer, also a Dubuque native, has been involved in politics and government for several years. She won the 99th District state House seat in 2014. She was a congressional page and served as former Iowa House Speaker Pat Murphy's page, was state coordinator for Joe Biden's 2008 presidential campaign, and served as an Iowa House legislative assistant before running for office.

Although Democrats are 33 percent of the active registered voters in the 1st District and Republicans are 29 percent, Blum defeated Monica Vernon of Cedar Rapids 54 percent to 46 percent last year after defeating Murphy in an open-seat race in 2014. No-party voters make up 38 percent of the active registered voters.

In 2016, the district flipped from solidly backing Barack Obama twice to going for Trump.

Now, Finkenauer said, there's buyer‘s remorse.

'I'll tell you what, I've been around the district the last couple of months or so talking to a lot of those hardworking Iowans and many ... have told me they voted for ... President Donald Trump and Rod Blum and were completely disappointed and would never do it again,” Finkenauer said. 'This is not what a lot of people voted for. They thought they were voting for people who were going to stand up for them. But they are seeing every day more attacks on their rights as workers, more attacks on working people and the middle class.

'They're not happy.”

Political handicappers including Inside Elections and the Crystal Ball rate Iowa's First District 'likely Republican,” which is a change from previous elections.

'Regardless of any Crystal Ball, regardless of the fact that he's a millionaire, I believe in the people of Iowa and they deserve better whether that's me or somebody else,” she said. 'It sure isn't Rod Blum.”

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