One of the four men in House District 90’s special election Sept. 1 said he’s in the race because the Republican candidate is running away from his faith and core values.

Dan Cesar, a registered Republican who in 2008 garnered 1,600 votes in HD90 as a member of the Fourth of July Party, said he believes his district is waiting for a true conservative to emerge, and Republican Stephen Burgmeier is not that person. He is running again without the official endorsement of either major political party.

“Steve and I have been personal friends for 20 years. This is not about Steve and Dan,” Cesar said in an interview with controversial radio host Steve Deace on Friday. “This is about how you phrase your campaign. He has avoided the words pro-life in everything he says. He’s avoided the fact that he’s a Catholic and belongs to a faith community. I take exception to that. His handlers are telling him to do that.”

The race for HD90 is shaping up to be a contentious battle for the seat vacated by Democratic Rep. John Whitaker. The Iowa Democratic Party and Republican Party of Iowa have promised heavy investments in the rural district in the southeastern tip of the state, and several special interest groups are already involved.

Some Republicans are privately voicing concern that Cesar will play the role of the spoiler, siphoning off just enough social conservative voters to tip the election to Hanson. Cesar said if Republicans would simply embrace the pro-life movement and stop avoiding it, he wouldn’t have to run.

“The party told me they don’t want to focus on pro-life,” he said. “So I either run again as a third party or shut up. Shut up and let a coward run as a Democrat and someone I consider a sellout run as a Republican. I stood up and said I will run.”

Cesar then echoed a criticism voiced in new Web ad paid for by the Iowa Democratic Party, pointing out that as a member of the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors Burgmeier voted five times to raise taxes on Jefferson County residents and four times to increase his own pay.

“He’s the best friend the county bureaucracy has ever had,” Cesar said.

Burgmeier and Hanson will participate in a forum hosted by the Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce and Fairfield Economic Development Association at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 25, at the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center’s Sondheim Center for the Performing Arts. Cesar and the independent candidate in the race, Douglas William Philips, have not been invited to participate.

UPDATE: In the comment section, Brent Willett of the Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce said Philips and Cesar have officially been invited to participate in the Aug. 25 forum.