Marek said same-sex marriage is a highly emotional issue on both sides of the debate. The best way he says he can represent all of his constitutions is to see that the issue goes before the citizens of Iowa on a ballot.

“There are a lot of tough decisions to be made,” Marek noted, “and emotional feelings involved. I try to do what’s best for the area, with some people happy and some unhappy.”

If his position was characterized accurately, it would mark another disagreement between Marek and his party’s leaders in the House.  During the 2009 session, Marek helped kill union-backed legislation that would have required state-funded public works projects to pay a “prevailing wage” to workers.  House Speaker Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque, felt the bill was so important that he kept the voting machine open for an entire weekend, hoping Marek or another “no” vote might switch.

Marek lives in Washington County, where Republicans outnumber Democrats by nearly 2,000 registered voters. Among Democratic state representatives, his district is arguably one of the most conservative.

(h/t John Deeth)

According to John Deeth, who liveblogged the League of Women Voters forum Saturday for his Web site, several attendees brought up the legislation. Marek was one of five Democrats to vote against the measure that would have set minimum pay and benefit standards for workers on certain public projects.

Marek told the audience that labor needs to do a better job of educating his constituents before he can support prevailing wage.

“I admit I don’t understand labor as well as some of you do. There needs to be more communication with areas that are more conservative like mine.” Local contractors are using good, legal labor “and they just do not want to go that direction, and until they are educated it is very hard for me to go that direction. I have to listen to what they say and I was very hesitant to be the vote that made the difference.”

Marek also made several references to undocumented workers as a reason to oppose the legislation, according to Death, eventually saying the residents of his district “just don’t want to see [prevailing wage] happen.”

Bill Gerhard, the president of the Iowa State Building and Construction Trades Council, said improved worker safety and increased productivity would offset any cost increase associated with prevailing wage. Responding to Marek’s statement that his constituency wanted him to vote “no,” Gerhard said, “This is bigger than a half dozen small contractors in Washington County. The people in this room, Johnson County, carried you in the election, and we want to have you carry our water in the state house.”

Incoming freshman State Rep. Larry Marek, who was elected by a small margin in a fairly conservative eastern Iowa district, has been appointed Vice Chair of the Agriculture Committee.  Longtime State Rep. Dolores Mertz, who is probably the most conservative Democrat in the legislature, remains chair of the committee.  This should help ensure that Democrats stay on the good side of the Iowa Farm Bureau, and it likely means there won’t be any big moves on CAFOs.  This will anger groups on the left, but it is politically expedient.

Almost all vulnerable Democratic incumbents have been kept off the Ways and Means committee.  In a year of budget shortfalls, Ways and Means will likely have to send some tax-increasing bills to the floor.  Members of the committee who vote to send those bills to the floor will be said to have voted for tax increases an absurd number of times because negative direct mail does not typically distinguish between committee votes and floor votes.

As with Ways and Means, the Labor committee also has few vulnerable incumbents this year.  Because unions tend to give money to Labor committee members, in the past, it has been a tradeoff for state representatives who represent fiscally conservative districts but need the campaign contributions from unions to stay afloat.  A few vulnerable incumbents have ended up on the committee in past sessions.  But after a campaign that was dominated by attacks on Democrats for taking tough votes on labor issues, Democratic leaders may be content to let union resources go into their general campaign fund so that they can redistribute it as needed, rather than relying on unions to provide direct support to at-risk incumbents.

In general, most newly elected state representatives were awarded a Vice Chair position on at least one committee.  This happened two years ago, as well.  Although rewarding seniority is important, Democrats realize that the new incumbents need some influence, too, if they are going to hold on to their seats.

So who’s the big winner from all of this?

My first instinct is to say that this helps Democratic candidates for the Iowa House, who have been proposing to “protect our jobs by cracking down on CEOs who hire illegal immigrants” in television ads, mailings, and other communications for some time.

That these were federal charges and not state charges is unlikely to matter.  Iowans will wake up tomorrow to newspapers that say a CEO has been ‘cracked down on,’ and Democrats’ television ads will begin to resonate even more.

Here are ads from two candidates for Iowa House — Larry Marek and John Beard — that both use the ‘cracking down on CEOs’ line at about the 25-second mark:

Jarad Klein, who is running for the open seat in House District 89 against Democrat Larry Marek, has been on television with a positive, biographical ad for weeks, but his latest ad criticizes his opponent, alleging that Marek is running a “false and negative” campaign.

With a month to go until election day, neither campaign has actually gone very negative so far, but what’s most interesting about Klein’s ad is the end, which features an announcer who says, “Larry Marek.  One more vote for more of the same.  Larry Marek.  Not the change we need.”

That plays very explicitly on Obama’s campaign themes in an effort to tie a Democrat to Sen. John McCain in a district that is somewhat conservative, but where independent voters might lean Obama.

Both Klein and Marek are relatively unknown, so defining Marek as “more of the same” before he has a chance to define himself might just work.  If it does, Klein will have Obama to thank.

Here’s the full script of Klein’s latest TV ad, which is apparently running frequently on cable, transcribed by a resident of House District 89:

What’s behind Larry Marek’s false and negative campaign against Jarad Klein? (”LIES” flashes on screen)

A record of betrayal he’s desperate to hide.

Larry Marek says he’ll work for us in Des Moines, but he’s already pledged his support to liberals who have raised our taxes and increased government spending.

Higher taxes.  More out of control spending.

Larry Marek.  One more vote for more of the same.

Larry Marek.  Not the change we need.

Update: And to add an extra bit of irony to the story, Jarad Klein actually got his start in politics as an intern for President George W. Bush’s 2000 campaign, so Obama’s “more of the same” meme might apply more to him than to his opponent.

But with the retirement of longtime incumbent Republican incumbent Sandy Greiner, the parties have reversed roles. It’s the Republicans who have the young candidate with Jarad Klein, while the Democrats have the older contender with Larry Marek.

Marek rolled up a big fundraising lead in the July 19 reports, with $14,924 cash on hand to Klein’s $3,131.

But Klein is clearly a GOP priority, with his large red and white signs on the highways of Washington County outnumbering those for Republican candidates higher on the ticket.Democrats made this a top-priority race in 2004 with Mark Shearer, who represented Washington County in nonconsecutive terms in the House and Senate. In 2006, underfunded Democrat Mark Nolte, young and with few long-term ties to the district, made the race closer than expected.

Klein says his relative youth – he’s 27 to Klein’s 68 – has its advantages. “The energy and enthusiasm wears off on other folks,” he told Iowa Independent at the Republican state convention. “As a young farmer, a young family man, and a young businessman, I believe I’m the best person represent our district.”

Along with a family farm background, Klein has worked as a legislative clerk and a Republican Party campaign staffer.

Greiner, who is stepping down after 16 years in office, is the only representative the district has had under the present lines. First elected to the House in 1992 out of a district in Washington and Keokuk counties, Greiner moved to the Senate in 2000. But she drew the short straw when three senators wound up in one district after redistricting and moved back to the House in 2002.

Washington County makes up about 70 percent of the district, which also includes parts of Johnson and Jefferson counties. Washington has traditionally leaned Republican but has trended the other way recently. Democrat Becky Schmitz carried the House 89 half of her Senate district in her narrow 2006 win in Senate District 45 over incumbent David Miller, and top-of-the-ticket Democrats have run between 48 and 52 percent in the district since the turn of the century.

“Everything you hear on mainstream media is pretty negative,” Klein said of Republican prospects for 2008. “But the reality is night and day,” he said, citing the number and enthusiasm of volunteers.

“This is one of those races that will probably be decided by a few hundred votes either way,” House Speaker Pat Murphy told the crowd at a Marek fundraiser. “This is a winnable race, and we’re targeting it. The big difference is Larry has long-term ties to Washington County,” said the speaker, prompting a handful of chuckles from the partisan crowd.

Klein and his family have farmed in both Washington County and in Keokuk County, which is outside the district. His address is on Keokuk-Washington Road, literally on the boundary of the district. “He isn’t well-known at all,” said Marek supporter Pete Morrison of Klein. “No one knows who he is.”

Klein said that’s not what he’s hearing while he’s doorknocking. “They’re hearing the message” of promoting strong families, building a strong job-producing economy, and balancing the state budget.

Murphy said House Democrats have tried to recruit candidates who fit their districts. Marek has a farm and soy marketing background and helped pass the Riverside casino referendum and organize the casino’s charitable arm. “I’ve been involved with renewable fuels and soil conservation,” Marek told Iowa Independent. He’s setting a goal of increasing Iowa’s wind energy from 1 percent of the state’s electrical generation to 25 or 30 percent, with a corresponding increase in jobs in the renewable sector.

“With Larry’s experience as an assistant soil commissioner, he’ll be a real asset on flood control,” said Rep. John Whittaker of Hillsboro, who represents the other half of Schmitz’s Senate district.

Yet Marek also has a rural fiscal streak. “As a farmer, keeping taxes in line has always been important to me,” he told Iowa Independent.

Klein says as a full-time farmer he understands the tax pressures. “A lot of people, they have to go to town and get that second job because of taxes.”