Elections: 2006 Candidate Profiles

Iowa - House (2)

District Geography | Summary | History | Outlook | Polls

James A. Leach (Republican, 15-term incumbent)

Website: www.jimleach.com

David W. Loebsack (Democrat)

Website: www.loebsackforcongress.org

District Geography:

Iowa's 2nd Congressional District comprises fifteen counties in the southeastern part of the state: Appanoose, Cedar, Davis, Des Moines, Henry, Jefferson, Johnson, Lee, Linn, Louisa, Muscatine, Van Buren, Wapello, Washington, and Wayne.

Summary:

Fifteen-term Republican incumbent James A. Leach is a member of the Committee on International Relations and Chairman Emeritus of the Committee on Banking and Financial Services. Leach has encouraged peace talks with North Korea, fought for a ban on Internet gambling, supports much stronger campaign finance reforms, and has denounced neo-con foreign policies.

David Loebsack has been a professor of political science at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon since 1982. He is campaigning to end U.S. involvement in Iraq as quickly as possible, to better secure U.S. ports and mass transit facilities, to work towards universal health care coverage, to back a $2 increase in the federal minimum wage, to fight privatization of Social Security, to strength environmental laws, and to invest in renewable forms of energy.

History:

Republican Jim Leach was elected to what was then Iowa's 1st Congressional District in 1978, handily defeating his Democratic opponent Richard E. Myers by 27.7 points. Leach rolled to impressive double-digit victories throughout the 1980s, with an average victory margin of 27.3 points. In 1990 the Democrats failed to even field an opponent against the popular Leach, and he won by 36.9 and 22.3 points in the following 1992 and 1994 elections. In 1996 Leach faced one the closest races of his congressional career, but managed to beat Democratic nominee Bob Rush by 7.2 points. Rush tried again to unseat Leach in 1998, but his support dwindled, losing to Leach this time by 14.2 points. Leach continued his dominance in his 2000 race against Democrat Bob Simpson by 25.7 points, but faced a stiff challenge in his 2002 bid against Julie Thomas - winning by just 6.5 points in the newly formed 2nd Congressional District. In 2004, Leach rolled over Democrat David Franker by 20 points.

Outlook:

Despite Leach's long tenure in the US House, the Democratic leanings of this district (the 2nd voted 55-44 for Kerry in 2004) combined with the national anti-Republican mood (Bush's approval rating is 35% here) make this race one to watch in 2006.

Polls:

1 "I would like you to think about the race for Congress. If the election were today, would you vote for Republican Jim Leach or Democrat David Loebsack?"