Elections: 2006 Candidate Profiles

Iowa - House (4)

District Geography | Summary | History | Outlook | Polls

Tom Latham (Republican, 6-term incumbent)

Website: www.tomlatham.com

Seldon E. Spencer (Democrat)

Website: www.spencerforcongress.com

District Geography:

Iowa's 4th Congressional District comprises twenty-eight counties in the central and northern part of the state: Alamakee, Boone, Calhoun, Cerro Gordo, Chickasaw, Dallas, Emmet, Floyd, Franklin, Greene, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Howard, Humboldt, Kossuth, Madison, Marshall, Mitchell, Palo Alto, Pocahontas, Story, Warren, Webster, Winnebago, Winneshiek, Worth, and Wright.

Summary:

Six-term Republican incumbent Tom Latham is a member of the House Appropriations Committee. His campaign platform focuses on Iraq, terrorism, and expanding veteran's benefits. Latham vows the U.S. must remain and persevere in Iraq.

Seldon Spencer is a neurologist who is campaigning to fight the "culture of corruption" in Washington, D.C. Spencer also wants to make health care accessible to all Americans, work toward lowering the national debt, and pursue alternative sources of energy to become less dependent on foreign oil. Spencer believes the U.S. should gradually redeploy troops from Iraq.

History:

Latham was part of the 1994 "Republican revolution" that swept into Congress with a large number of first-time GOP victors. Latham beat Democrat nominee Sheila McGuire by 21.8 points in what was then the 4th Congressional District seat left open by 4-term Republican Fred Grandy. For the next three races Latham faced little competition: winning by 31.9 points in 1996, unopposed in 1998, and by 39.6 points in 2000. In 2002, however, Democrat nominee John Norris made the race somewhat more interesting, losing by 11.7 points. In 2004 Latham cruised to a 22-point victory over Democratic nominee Paul W. Johnson.

Outlook:

This region has voted Republican for the U.S. House in each race for the last two decades. In light of this historical trend, as well as Latham's continuous streak of double-digit wins, it will be a great challenge for Spencer to steal this Republican-held seat.

Polls:

None.