King v Vilsack: Independents Now A Plurality In New District
therepublic.com
For 10 years Rep. Steve King has represented a deeply conservative wedge of Iowa, a place where constituents apparently didn't object to his comparison of the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib to fraternity hazing or his suggestion that an electric fence separate the U.S. from Mexico so that illegal immigrants get the same treatment as wandering livestock.
Now his district has been redrawn and includes more moderate counties. And he is facing a potential opponent in former Iowa first lady Christy Vilsack, whose husband, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, remains a popular figure in the state.
“Before he probably didn't have to show up,” said Doug Gross, a Republican strategist and former gubernatorial candidate in Iowa. “Now he'll probably have to show up.”
When King was elected in 2002, he was heralded by the conservative National Review as the “Great Right Hope.” He has won the love of the party's activist base, but he has hurt his rise in congressional leadership and committee chairman posts with his off-the-cuff remarks.
Among other controversial statements: King has said that President Barack Obama “favors the black person,” and has compared the quality of life in Washington unfavorably to Baghdad. He also called illegal immigration a “slow-moving terrorist attack.”
That type of talk played well in King's old district, which voted 54 percent to 44 percent for GOP nominee John McCain over Obama in 2008.
The new district is less conservative. McCain beat Obama by a more slender margin, 50 to 48, in the counties that make up the new district. Independents are the plurality in the new district, roughly 34 percent of registered voters. Republicans comprise 33 percent of voters and Democrats approximately 25 percent of the electorate.
Traci Niederjohn said she voted for Latham and will miss him. But she said she is excited that Vilsack is looking at the 4th District.
“I think it will be cool to have someone that popular here,” the 41-year-old Republican said, referring to Vilsack. “I'd go hear her speak to see what she has to say. It will be interesting to listen to her.”
King is certain of one thing: His new district won't change how he goes about his business. Nudged away by his own party from the immigration debate, King has made repealing the health care law his top priority.
“I won't change,” he said. “I never have thought there are enough people like me here.”
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