In
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...
,
midterm elections
Apart from general elections and by-elections, midterm election
refers to a type of election where the people can elect their representatives and other subnational officeholders (e.g. governor, members of local council) in the middle of the term ...
for the state's five
congressional seats took place November 7, 2006. Each race was contested, pitting the winners of the Republican and Democratic primaries conducted June 6.
The Democratic party won three of the five seats up for grabs. In the 2nd district, 30-year incumbent
Jim Leach
James Albert Smith Leach (born October 15, 1942) is an American academic and former politician. He served as ninth Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 2009 to 2013 Pogrebin, Robin"Rocco Landesman Confirmed as Chairman of the N ...
, a Republican, was unseated by newcomer
Dave Loebsack
David Wayne Loebsack (; born December 23, 1952) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2007 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he also is an ''emeritus'' professor of political science at Cornell Coll ...
, a Democrat.
The winners served from January 3, 2007 to January 3, 2009.
Overview
District 1
Regarded as one of the more hotly contested races in the nation, Republican nominee Mike Whalen of
Bettendorf, the operator of the Heart of America Restaurants and Inns (HOARI) chain, took on Democratic candidate
Bruce Braley
Bruce Lowell Braley (born October 30, 1957) is an American politician and attorney who served as the U.S. representative for from 2007 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he was defeated in his attempt to win an open seat in the 2014 Unit ...
, an attorney from
Waterloo. The seat had been vacated when incumbent
Jim Nussle announced his
run for Iowa governor.
In the Democratic primary, Braley defeated Rick Dickinson, Bill Gluba and Denny Heath. Whalen got the GOP nod over
Bill Dix and Brian Kennedy.
Following an election that was peppered with negative attack ads from both sides, Braley defeated Whalen by a solid margin.
Braley's victory meant that, for the first time since 1976, a Democrat will be serving the district.
District 2
When the Iowa Secretary of State's office posted its list of primary candidates online in March, there was no Democratic candidate
However,
Dave Loebsack
David Wayne Loebsack (; born December 23, 1952) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2007 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he also is an ''emeritus'' professor of political science at Cornell Coll ...
of
Mount Vernon, Iowa, Mount Vernon, a political science professor at
Cornell College
Cornell College is a private college in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Originally the Iowa Conference Seminary, the school was founded in 1853 by George Bryant Bowman. Four years later, in 1857, the name was changed to Cornell College, in honor of iron ty ...
, received write-in votes in the June 6 primary to become the Democratic nomine
Incumbent Jim Leach was the sole GOP candidate in the primary.
The campaign eventually heated up, as Loebsack was hoping to ride what he viewed as voter discontent with the Bush administration. Leach supporters continued to point to his strong integrity and status as one of the most liberal Republicans in the House.
On election night, Loebsack stunned many political observers by defeating Leach by a thin margin. Leach's defeat made him the most senior House member to lose re-election in 2006 and the most senior member to lose re-election since 42-year incumbent
Jack Brooks (American politician), Jack Brooks lost to
Steve Stockman in the
1994 Republican Revolution.
District 3
Five-term incumbent
Leonard Boswell, a Democrat from
Des Moines, took on Republican challenger
Jeff Lamberti of Ankeny, a two-term state senator from the 35th District and the GOP's Senate leader. Both candidates were uncontested in the June 6 primary.
Like in the first congressional district, the third district race was characterized by negative attack advertising and attention from national committees seeking to elect their candidate of choice.
Boswell ultimately took advantage of the strong
Democratic wave sweeping across the country and defeated Lamberti to win a sixth term.
District 4
Seven-term Republican incumbent
Tom Latham of
Alexander
Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
faced Democratic nominee Selden Spencer, a neurologist from
Huxley. Both candidates were unopposed in the June 6 primary. Although quiet by comparison to other races in Iowa, the
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was a major point of contention between the candidates.
Though some political analysts expected the race to be a tough one, Latham defeated Spencer by a solid margin to win a seventh term.
District 5
Republican
Steve King of
Kiron, a two-term incumbent, faced Democratic nominee Joyce Schulte of
Creston. Schulte had defeated Robert Chambers in the June 6 primary, while King was unopposed.
In the November 7 election, King defeated Schulte in a small landslide to win another term.
References
See also
*
Iowa gubernatorial election, 2006
The 2006 Iowa gubernatorial election took place November 7, 2006. The incumbent List of governors of Iowa, governor, Tom Vilsack, a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, had served two terms and decided not to seek a third term. In the elec ...
{{2006 U.S. midterm elections
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...
2006
2006 Iowa elections