Associated Press
Republican Reps. Steve King and Tom Latham of Iowa
Well, this comes as quite a surprise, which will have a significant impact beyond Iowa.
Rep. Tom Latham (R-Iowa) won't run for the Senate, a decision that could hurt Republican chances of picking up the state's open seat.
"The opportunity to serve Iowa in the U.S. Senate is appealing to this farm kid who grew up here, raised a family here, and helped grow a family business in Iowa. I love Iowa," he said in a statement emailed to supporters Wednesday afternoon.
"However, only 56 days ago I took an oath to 'faithfully discharge the duties' of an office with which the people of Iowa's Third Congressional District entrusted to me. I cannot in good conscience launch a two-year statewide campaign that will detract from the commitment I made to the people who elected me, at a time when our nation desperately needs less campaigning and more leadership."
For those who haven't been watching this race closely, with incumbent Sen. Tom Harkin (D) retiring, Republicans are looking at Iowa as a key 2014 pick-up opportunity. But a GOP primary was likely to be the focal point of a major intra-party conflict, with the party's extremist base rallying behind Rep. Steve King, and the party establishment supporting Rep. Tom Latham.
The extended party was already gearing up for the ugly fight, with Karl Rove's machine making clear that King is unelectable and therefore unacceptable, while activist groups and Tea Partiers deemed Latham an overly moderate insider.
Polls showed Latham struggling with the far-right, but leading statewide, while King enjoys GOP support but struggles with the mainstream. It was going to be a battle royale for the heart and soul of the Republican Party.
That is, until today, when Latham decided to skip the race.
Steve King, as nutty and radical as he is, now appears to be the clear favorite to be his party's U.S. Senate nominee next year. He will likely face Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa), who already enjoys strong support from his party, and who has early leads over King in a general election.
And that's why King isn't the only one smiling today -- Democrats are, too. For Dems, there's already a long list of candidates the Republican base loved but who couldn't win statewide -- the list includes names like Todd Akin, Richard Moudock, Christine O'Donnell, Ken Buck, and Sharon Angle -- and they have reason to believe King will add his name to that list next November.
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While I look forward to the outcome, please dems don't count your chickens before they hatch. King is a fruit-cake, but never underestimate the appeal of fruitcakes.
Amen to that!!
yeah. they have a nasty habit of showing up at the worst moment...
If the dems get really lucky, King will lose the senate race to a dem and will not be eligible to run simultaneously for his congressional seat! Getting Steve King to disappear from everywhere but Faux News and teabagger events would be fantastic.
He will lose, if he's allowed to run and shortly thereafter join the Gang of Cain, Brown etc and make a ton of money @Fox...fine with me.
Hey, Hey, Hey let's remember one don't count our chickens before they hatch. Two this is the state that recently passed a law saying it's okay to fire an attractive female worker whom the employer finds too tempting. Women employers can't fire a male worker they find to attractive and tempting.
I love the smell of self-destructing conservatives immolating themselves in the morning. (To the tune of Ride of the Valkeries and helicopters in the background.)
Steve King is on the way out. Can a similar situation be set up for Michelle Bachman?
Great, either the fruit cake runs or the Repub implode fighting over another candidate.
Either way, great television.
Getting King to disappear from the Iowa atmosphere will be next to impossible. I travel through his district every couple of weeks. Never have I seen so many signs up during the election. I would say for every 15 of his I saw one Christie Vilsack. Getting Rid of King would be like getting rid of Pancreatic cancer.
Here is hoping that his "pancreatic cancer" kills the GOP in Iowa.
After watching Rep. Bruce Bailey in debates, I have no doubt he is the best canidate for the Senate seat. Steve King is carrying too much Tea Party baggage with him.
Where's Bob Vander Platts (however you freakin spell it.) in all this?
It is a near certainty that Vanderplaats is holding the purse strings for this one, by way of The Family Leader and NOM pacs, among other uber right causes.
But...
Iowan's rejoice! No way in hell King can win this state. His margin this last cycle was only 6 points to someone he should have creamed by double digits. Braley's district is so heavily democratic, and they like him there, any gains King would have in his own district would be wiped out tenfold by Braley's district. The rest of the state will probably lean toward Braley.
Best case scenario: he retires his seat in the house and then gets beaten to a pulp for Harkin's senate spot. Any luck after that, our dem who ran against him (C Vilsack), or somebody better, will run again and get it this time. I don't consider myself a democrat, but King is a tool and needs to be replaced.
It is very important to mandate term limits in the House and Senate in the near future.
The ballot box is the proper place to limit the terms of elected officials. If more voters would bother to turn out for EVERY election, we might be able to have more effective government.
Oh god, not another loony toon with delusions of grandure!
Didn't we just have our fill of Michele Bachmann? Sweet Baby Jesus, where do these people come from?
Yeah, but this loony toon is going to run state-wide, not just to a collection of hand-picked loonies in a gerrymandered district.
Should be amusing.
Thanks to the Des Moines Post, and a couple local TV Stations, many Iowan's are terribly misinformed, mislead, and politically scammed.
WHATEVER is left over of the "old" GOP had better get their backbone(s) checked out..........there is the distinct possibility that solid, common sense Iowans will see that Mr. King is NOT in possession of a fully functioning brain...(there are suspicions that he has NO BRAIN AT ALL)...........either way, the democratic party had better plan for BOTH scenarios...good luck...................
Isn't it time we threw the Teaparty overboard, if they thnk they're all so bad and stuff, why don't they run on their own ticket? It was futile for them to side with the Republicans, the biggest debt collectors in our government. their platform is crumbling and going either in the garbage or the old archives where it belongs. One other thing where is our apology?
throw them out just when they are doing our work for us?
With the Tea Party nuts as your ally who needs enemies. Keep the Tea Party with Republicans it really confuses them
the state didn't pass a law tomake it ok to fire some chick, it was our newly minted supreme court(less 3 who ruled in favor of same sex and were booted). and king won't have a chance. his(my) district is loaded with evangelical wingnuts to the nrthwest, but you get alittle east of me and he'd get beat 2-1 and that's where most of the population is
Thank you baggers! Got one question for you guys, when you're at Home Depot, do you feel inexplicably drawn to the tool section?
They gotta find that sack of hammers somewhere.
Rep. Bruce Braley will be a great candidate for the Senate...and a great senator. I haven't seen him debate, but I did see him tear apart some folks in a few congressional hearings, which was a real treat. However, even if he can knock King off, there will still be an issue of a good Democrat who can pick up his congressional seat. IA's First District is a bit of a swing district (Anyone remember Jim Nussle?). Let's hope there are some good folks in the wings who can keep IA 1 blue.
It's another battle of "can money buy the vote?".
Yea. Run Steve King as Repub candidate. We need a few laughs.