Senate hopeful’s death hits home with candidates

CEDAR RAPIDS - The death of a long shot Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate has struck a chord with fellow politicians, even among those who didn't know him.

Doug Butzier, 59, a Dubuque emergency room doctor and one of six candidates for an open U.S. Senate seat, died in a plane crash near the Dubuque Regional Airport Monday night.

'I'm sorry to hear that,” Sen. Tom Harkin said when he learned of Butzier's death while campaigning in Iowa City. 'I did not know this individual, but anything like that saddens me.”

Most people, Harkin said, are unaware of the risks candidates take while campaigning. Harkin's good friend and colleague, Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minnesota, died in a plane crash while campaigning for re-election 12 years ago this month.

For U.S. House candidate state Rep. Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque, the loss was personal. He had been Butzier's patient and Murphy's wife Terry, a nurse, worked with Butzier in the emergency room at Mercy Medical Center in Dubuque.

'We lost a very good medical provider, and along with that, a great community member,” he said.

It was Butzier's concern with health care - the Affordable Care Act specifically - that prompted him to enter the race for the seat now held by Harkin. The federal government, he said, should not be an insurance company.

'The issue of government-controlled health care strikes at the very heart of our independence from government control,” Butzier said on his website.

Butzier died when his single-engine Piper PA-46 crashed about a mile north of the Dubuque runway an hour after leaving from Ankeny, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Robert Miller said Butzier had been at his home Monday for a campaign event in West Des Moines. He had worked with Butzier at a Colorado ski lodge in 1973 and they saw each other a few times after that.

'It was a wonderful reunion but a terrible ending to our friendship,” Miller said.

According to reports, the plane missed its first approach to the runway and crashed on its second approach. Although it had been raining, officials were unable to say if weather was a factor.

Butzier, a Mount Pleasant native, grew up in Cedar Falls. He practiced medicine in Arizona and Minnesota before moving to Dubuque 17 years ago.

Butzier was not expected to be a factor in the six-way race for the Senate seat. However, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Bruce Braley and Republican Senate candidate state Sen. Joni Ernst both paid their respects.

Braley said he has 'enormous respect for anyone who puts their name forward as a candidate for public office.”

Ernst said she appreciated 'Doug's willingness to contribute to this important election.”

In a statement from Mercy, where Butzier was president of the medical staff, he was described as a 'leader among his peers” known for his 'strong, intelligent, thoughtful presence.”

Likewise, GOP U.S. House candidate Rod Blum of Dubuque expressed his respect for Butzier.

'I met Doug recently at the Anamosa Pumpkin Festival and have tremendous respect for his willingness to seek office and his aspirations to represent Iowans,” Blum said.

Butzier coached and officiated youth soccer for more than 10 years and coached basketball for a few season. He also was a Habitat for Humanity volunteer and was medical director for the Dubuque and Asbury fire departments.

He has three teenage stepchildren with his wife, Ann, and two adult sons from a previous marriage.