Kim Weaver is not the Democratic nominee for Iowa’s 4th Congressional District seat in 2018. However, she is acting as though she already is, collecting contributions from out-of-district citizens infuriated with the most recent outrageous comment incumbent Steve King predictably makes.
For the record, the filing deadline for the Democratic nomination is not until March 20, 2018. There is plenty of time for other candidates to express an interest in the seat, which includes such diverse communities as Sioux City, Spencer, Fort Dodge, Mason City and Ames.
To prematurely anoint Weaver as the party’s nominee would be a huge mistake, essentially writing off any chance Democrats would have to win the seat in an election cycle where an inevitable backlash is certain after Republicans have assumed political domination on both the state and federal levels.
I have nothing personal against Kim Weaver. Employed as a nursing home ombudsman for the state of Iowa, Weaver obviously cares about people. And, my hat's off to anyone who puts forward the time and energy to run for office.
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But let’s get real. In 2016 Weaver got shellacked by King, losing 61 to 39 percent. While that’s not all on Weaver since it was a horrible election cycle for Democrats, you would be hard-pressed to find any positive from her unsuccessful bid. Most insiders would describe her campaign as dysfunctional. Weaver was a failure at raising money, fought with the Iowa Democratic Party and went through more than one campaign manager. She was unsuccessful in bringing King out of hiding. Why would Democrats again nominate someone who ran such a failed campaign?
The 2018 election cycle is a huge opportunity for the Democratic Party and there is no reason not to believe that, with the right candidate, King could be beaten.
For the first time King, a politician who has made a career being against everything, will now be on the defensive and accountable. Republicans control everything and after six years of promising repeal and replace of Obamacare, congressional Republicans couldn’t get it done. King’s position on health care is even worse. His position is repeal and don’t replace, which would force even more people to lose insurance than the 24 million under the House plan. Many of these are King’s constituents and he doesn’t even have the guts to have a town hall meeting to listen to them.
During the next election cycle, there will be backlash to the presidency of Donald Trump whose approval ratings, already low, will be even worse when people realize the “forgotten man” Trump really represents is Wall Street and billionaires.
There will also be backlash from what the Republicans have done to working people in the Iowa Legislature, gutting Iowa’s collective bargaining law, stacking the deck even more against injured workers and taking away minimum wage increases from Iowa counties that passed them.
One of the biggest problems Democrats have is themselves. Too many write the 4th District off as not winnable even though there are many Democratic counties in the sprawling 39-county district which has a substantial independent registration. My first political job was in 1976 as a Morningside College student working for Democrat Berkley Bedell’s re-election at the same time Democrat Tom Harkin represented southwest Iowa. This district is winnable.
Who else besides Weaver? My favorite would be Democratic State Rep. Chris Hall of Sioux City who's made quite a name for himself as the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee. Other possibilities might be State Senators Amanda Ragan (Cerro Gordo) and Herman Quirmbach (Story) or State Reps. Helen Miller (Webster) and Sharon Steckman (Cerro Gordo).
The message needs to be sent loud and clear - Kim Weaver is not the presumptive Democratic nominee of the 4th Congressional District and we welcome others who might be interested.
Next week: Linda Holub
A Sioux City resident and local attorney, Al Sturgeon is a former Democratic state representative and senator. He is the father of six children.
