Dems Discount Significance of Meyers’ Independent Run

Democrats from around the state said William Meyers’ Independent run for the 4th District Congressional seat will have little or no impact on the party’s chances of defeating incumbent Republican Tom Latham in November.Meyers, who came in third in a four-way contest for the Democratic nomination in Tuesday’s primary, confirmed yesterday to the Iowa Independent that he has the 300 signatures needed to file to run as an Independent in the general election. He blamed behind-the-scenes efforts by members of county chapters of the Democratic Party to deny him access to local central committees, under the guidance of nominee Becky Greenwald, as his reason for his Independent bid. He also cited a lack of confidence in Greenwald as an effective candidate and representative.

Kim Pieper, spokeswoman for the Greenwald campaign, directed questions to the Iowa Democratic Party. Brooke Borkenhagen, the state party’s press secretary, said that while they respect Meyers’ right to run for office, Democrats in the 4th District spoke loudly on primary night.

“[Greenwald] received more than 50 percent of the vote in a four-way race,” Borkenhagen said. “The party is very much united behind her.”

Gordon Fischer, former chair of the Iowa Democratic Party who did not endorse any candidates in the 4th District primary, said it is true that the chairperson of a county Democratic Party can decide who speaks at meetings, which means Meyers could have been shut out of certain counties.

“But I have never heard of something like that happening,” Fischer said. “County chairs are always very open, and even if they aren’t, a vote by the county central committee would override them and allow a person to speak.”

Democrats have high hopes of defeating Latham in the 4th District, and the timing seemed to be right. Most observers believe this will be another big year for Democrats around the country, and for the first time since district lines were redrawn after the 2000 census, registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans in the 4th District.

The other incumbents in Iowa, Reps. Leonard Boswell, Bruce Braley and Dave Loebsack, along with Sen. Tom Harkin, appear to be relatively safe this fall, so the state and national party was very interested in the 4th District.

“I don’t think his Independent run is going to have much impact,” Fischer said. “I think a lot of the people who supported him in the primary will support the Democratic nominee, so him being in the race won’t make a lot of difference.”

Before the primary, observers were quick to point out how important it would be for Democrats to unify around the nominee in order to send a message to the national party and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that this was a swing district. Latham has served six terms in Congress, winning in recent years with around 60 percent of the vote.

Whether Meyers’ Independent run will affect the DCCC perception of the race remains to be seen, but most don’t seem worried.

“I presume very few voters in the district [outside of where he lives] know him now or ever will,” said John Norris, chairman of the Iowa Utilities Board and the 2002 Democratic nominee in the 4th Congressional District who endorsed Greenwald. “That generally means he pulls votes that would otherwise be anti-Latham votes, but if Greenwald’s campaign is strong, and I presume she will run a solid if not very good campaign, she will not be hurt very much by Meyers.”

Kevin Miskell, who came in fourth in Tuesday’s primary, said the race to defeat Latham is not going to be easy, but he, too, doubts that Meyers will have much of an impact.

“But if he goes out and tries to play the role of the spoiler, I think it’s going to damage his reputation and his future in politics,” he said.

Fischer said he hopes Meyers will reconsider.

“I’d hope he’d respect the will of the voters,” he said.