Stories

Former Iowa State University wrestling coach Jim Gibbons and state Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, both announced intentions Thursday to challenge Democratic U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell in 2010.

Though races elsewhere on the ballot are heating up in Iowa, CQ Politics has downgraded its ratings of two congressional races here, and U.S. Reps. Leonard Boswell and Tom Latham can breathe a little easier.

First District Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Waterloo, topped  Iowa’s congressional delegation in third-quarter fundraising, bringing in more than $182,000. He now has $446,842 cash on hand.
Congressional campaigns had to turn in their quarterly fundraising reports this week, documenting money raised and spent between July 1 and Sept. 30. Information about other elected officials and challengers is below.

A golf outing in West Virginia and a weekend getaway to Atlantic City, N.J., are just two of the trips taken this year by U.S. Rep. Tom Latham of Ames that have garnered the attention of campaign finance watchdogs.

INDIANOLA — At his 32nd annual Steak Fry fundraiser, U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) was cheered by an enthusiastic crowd of supporters when he declared that a health care reform bill would pass both houses of Congress “by Christmas,” and that it would include a government-run, not-for-profit health insurance plan.

U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa, told a Des Moines town hall forum on Sunday that some kind of government-run health care option is needed.

The health-care reform debate currently raging in the nation’s capitol is about to shift to city halls, community centers and town squares across the country, as federal lawmakers recess and head home for a month.
And thanks to promises from conservative groups to stack meetings with activists in order to disrupt health-care town halls and other [...]

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced today that his agency will increase the amount paid for dairy products through the Dairy Product Price Support Program. Vilsack estimates that that the increases, which will be in play from August 1 to October 31, will increase dairy farmer revenue nationally by $243 million.
“The price increase announced [...]

The three Democratic members of Iowa’s delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives announced “a majory breakthrough” on the possible reform of the federal formulas that govern Medicare and Medicaid distributions.

Third District Rep. Leonard Boswell was the top fundraiser of Iowa’s U.S. House delegation so far during 2009, pulling in more than $300,000, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.