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Blum 'Not Worried' About Midterm Challenge

Clay Masters
/
Iowa Public Radio
Congressman Rod Blum says he's "not worried" about this year's midterms. National outlets have labeled the Republican one of the most vulnerable incumbents in the country.

The Iowa congressman thought to be among the country's most vulnerable incumbents said he’s not worried about this year’s midterms. Multiple national analysts have singled out Iowa Congressman Rod Blum, R-IA, as a prime target for Democrats hoping to take back the U.S. House. The two-term Republican is facing Democrat Abby Finkenauer in a toss-up race for the 1st Congressional District in northeast Iowa.

Some Republicans are nervous after a string of upsets and close calls in reliably conservative districts across the country.

Democrats pushed through special election wins in a U.S. Senate race in Alabama and a U.S. House race in Pennsylvania, and this week fought neck and neck for a U.S. House seat in Ohio. At publishing, the contest between Republican Troy Balderson and Democrat Danny O'Connor was too close to call, in what was a reliably conservative district that President Donald Trump won by 11 points.

Despite facing a competitive race in a district that went for Trump by a smaller margin, Blum said he doesn't worry about elections.

“Oh I'm never nervous about politics. I'm not a career politician. So I don't sit and worry about the election. I don't sit and worry about politics," Blum said to reporters after an event in Cedar Rapids Wednesday. "The politics side of this is rather despicable if you ask me. I wouldn’t advise my young kids to go into politics. So I never worry about it. I never worry about it."

According to June fundrasising reports, Democratic challenger Abby Finkenauer has outraised and outspent Blum. If elected at age 29, she would be one of the youngest members in congressional history.

Speaking Wednesday, two-term Representative Blum expressed ambivalence about the prospect of losing the district.

"If the people in the 1st District want somebody else to represent them, that’s okay," Blum said. "And if they want to reward what we have done and the hard work we've done, obviously that's okay too."

Nonetheless, Republicans do hope to hold on to the district, which voted for Barack Obama twice for president before backing Donald Trump in 2016. The president and vice president have made high-profile visits to northeast Iowa in recent weeks, in part to stump for Blum. 

"If the people in the 1st District want somebody else to represent them, that's ok. And if they want to reward what we have done and the hard work we've done, obviously that's ok too."

Blum, for his part, has made a point of embracing the president's adminstration and his policies. At Trump's visit to a community college in Peosta last month, Blum thanked Trump for what he termed the president's "political courage" on announcing tariffs against the country's leading international trade partners. Farmers across the state have said retaliatory tariffs against soybeans, corn, pork and dairy products is hitting them hard. Blum reiterated the message Wednesday.

"At the end of the day, I believe our farmers are going to end up better off and have more markets open to them as a result of the president having the political courage to do this," Blum said.

Blum represents a district that encompasses swaths of largely rural farming communities, as well as the Democratic-leaning population centers of Cedar Rapids, Waterloo and Dubuque. According to numbers from the Iowa Secretary of State, registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans in the district, but voters with no party affiliation outnumber both parties. 

When asked about the president's public conduct and allegations of the president's extra-marital affairs, Blum said he's "not worried" about Trump's personal life.

"People knew this about the president and he was still elected president. I always tell folks, if you're looking for role models, you shouldn't be looking to the federal government," Blum said. "The president of the United States...I don't think anybody's electing him because they think he's pope-like."

In a district that voted for Barack Obama twice and is home to a plurality of independent voters, it's not yet clear how Blum's support of the president will impact the outcome in Novemeber.

Kate Payne was an Iowa City-based Reporter