On Friday, Democratic Rep. Dave Loebsack announced that he would not seek re-election in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District. Loebsack leaves behind a southeastern Iowa seat that swung from 56-43 Obama to 49-45 Trump. However this district, which includes Davenport and Iowa City, did back Democratic gubernatorial Fred Hubbell 51-47 even as he was narrowly losing statewide to Republican incumbent Kim Reynolds. Team Red also failed to field a strong candidate against Loebsack last year despite Trump’s win.
Loebsack’s retirement ends a surprising political career. Back in 2006 Loebsack, a political science professor at Cornell College, launched a longshot bid against 15-term GOP Rep. Jim Leach. Leach, who had opposed the Iraq War, was one of the more liberal Republicans in the House, and he had won re-election 59-39 even as John Kerry was carrying his seat 55-44. Loebsack himself also didn’t get off to a strong start when he failed to turn in enough signatures to make the primary ballot. No other Democrat filed, though, and Loebsack was nominated at a special convention.
The general election campaign was an odd one where the two opponents went out of their way to stay positive. Leach, who had been a guest lecturer in Loebsack’s classroom (his campaign manager was also a former Loebsack student), went so far as to condemn mailers from the state Republican Party attacking the Democrat, and he even told the RNC that he wouldn’t caucus with the GOP in the next Congress if they didn’t stop.
Loebsack, for his part, said he was glad the DCCC wasn’t getting involved in his race. While he campaigned against the Bush administration and the Iraq War, Loebsack called Leach a “good man” in his ads. Neither candidate raised much money, and while 2006 was a strong year for Team Blue, it was still a huge surprise when Loebsack unseated Leach 51-49. Leach didn’t seem particularly angry about the upset, and he endorsed Barack Obama two years later.
Loebsack was re-elected by a wide 57-39 margin in 2008 against Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks. However, he defeated her by a modest 51-46 in a rematch that took place during the 2010 GOP wave. Loebsack’s next campaign wasn’t very eventful but in 2014, he dispatched Miller-Meeks only 52-47. Loebsack was one of the luckier Iowa Democrats in that grim year, and for four years, he was the one Democrat in the state’s congressional delegation.
Republicans didn’t anticipate how popular Trump would be in this seat and failed to field a strong opponent in 2016. Loebsack beat underfunded Republican Christopher Peters 54-46 as Trump was carrying the seat, and he won their rematch 55-43 last year.
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