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Elections: 2006 Candidate Profiles

Iowa - House (5)

District Geography | Summary | History | Outlook | Polls

Steve King (Republican, 2-term incumbent)

Website: www.kingforcongress.com

Joyce Schulte (Democrat)

Website: www.schulteforcongress.com

Roy Nielsen (Independent)

Website: voteroyforcongress.com

Cheryl Broderson (Independent)

Website: www.cherylbrodersen.com

District Geography:

Iowa's 5th Congressional District comprises thirty-two counties across the western wing of the state: Adair, Adams, Audubon, Buena Vista, Carroll, Cass, Cherokee, Clarke, Clay, Crawford, Decatur, Dickinson, Fremont, Guthrie, Harrison, Ida, Lyon, Mills, Monona, Montgomery, O'Brien, Osceola, Page, Plymouth, Pottawattamie, Ringgold, Sac, Shelby, Sioux, Taylor, Union, and Woodbury.

Summary:

Two-term incumbent Republican Steve King serves on the House Small Business and Judiciary Committees. King's platform includes protecting property rights, fighting against tax increases, and restricting government regulations that impede the growth of business and jobs.

Joyce Schulte, the 2004 Democratic nominee for this district, is the Director of the Student Support Services program at Southwestern Community College in Creston. Schulte is campaigning to improve the quality of education from pre-school to college, to work for renewable energies, to push for a strategic, tactical, and diplomatic end to the Iraq war, to secure sea ports and airports, and to repeal the Bush tax cuts.

Roy Nielson, a small business owner, is campaigning for a balanced budget, eliminating the federal governmental debt, reducing the U.S. trade deficit, reduce taxes, and making alternative sources of energy a national priority.

Cheryl Broderson, a registered nurse, is campaigning to reduce the federal deficit, reduce U.S. reliance on oil by 'going green,' to make prescription drugs more affordable, to improve the coordination of emergency responders in national emergencies and disasters, and to make a greater financial commitment to education.

History:

King handily won the inaugural race of the newly drawn 5th Congressional District in 2002, beating Democratic nominee Paul Shomshor by 24 points. In his first race against Schulte, in 2004, he easily won by 27 points.

Outlook:

Western Iowa hasn't elected a Democrat since Berkley Bedell in 1975-1986, so King should remain a formidable candidate in his rematch against Schulte.

Polls:

None.