Cedar Rapids City Council member Monica Vernon launched her campaign for Congress in Iowa’s first district today. Her website currently contains only a donation button and a brief statement, which I’ve posted after the jump. Vernon was first elected to the city council as a Republican in 2007, changed her party affiliation in 2009, and was easily re-elected in 2011.
Vernon just joined twitter and is on Facebook here. As of 2 pm on June 4, Vernon’s page had 73 “likes.” The Facebook page for the Swati Dandekar exploratory committee was launched on May 9 and has six “likes” at this writing. UPDATE: As of 9 am on June 5, Vernon for Congress has 480 Facebok “likes.”
Many Democrats are eager to nominate a woman in IA-01, so that we can end our state’s embarrassing connection to Mississippi.
The latest voter registration numbers for the 20 counties in this Congressional district are after the jump as well. IA-01 leans Democratic, and Linn County is the largest by population.
Statement posted on front page of Monica Vernon for Congress.
Our First District needs someone representing us who can make a difference both in the daily lives of Iowans and in the gridlock that we all see in Washington. I’m a problem-solver who will forge relationships and push for progress. I am honored to be running for United States Congress.
The last thirty years of my life were devoted to raising a family, growing a business and working hard to make my community a better place. As a Cedar Rapids city councilwoman, I have tackled extremely difficult issues as we recovered and rebuilt our community after the flood. Since the devastating storm of 2008, I have continued to work with other local, regional and national leaders on forward thinking, short and long term strategies to spur economic development, improve neighborhood safety and more. Now, I’d like to take my energy and passion to Washington to go to work for the people of the First District.
The voter registration totals come from the Iowa Secretary of State’s website.
Active voter registration numbers as of June 2013
IA-01
| County | Democrats | Republicans | no-party voters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allamakee | 2,199 | 4,263 | 3,101 |
| Benton | 4,614 | 4,959 | 7,413 |
| Black Hawk | 29,034 | 20,573 | 31,802 |
| Bremer | 3,788 | 5,017 | 7,334 |
| Buchanan | 3,835 | 3,117 | 6,382 |
| Clayton | 3,398 | 3,240 | 4,750 |
| Delaware | 2,573 | 3,831 | 4,926 |
| Dubuque | 24,887 | 14,781 | 22,627 |
| Fayette | 3,717 | 4,077 | 4,134 |
| Howard | 1,870 | 1,441 | 2,486 |
| Iowa | 2,770 | 3,655 | 4,772 |
| Jackson | 5,649 | 2,613 | 5,408 |
| Jones | 3,483 | 3,619 | 5,834 |
| Linn | 49,632 | 37,956 | 52,374 |
| Marshall | 7,375 | 7,462 | 8,973 |
| Mitchell | 1,786 | 2,495 | 2,665 |
| Poweshiek | 3,690 | 3,635 | 5,023 |
| Tama | 3,348 | 3,390 | 4,493 |
| Winnishiek | 3,543 | 4,453 | 5,118 |
| Worth | 1,516 | 1,749 | 1,957 |
| total | 162,707 | 136,326 | 191,572 |
5 Comments
Vernon
Good to see. I think one more person may jump into the primary (don’t know who that is, just a hunch) If Murphy wins the primary we will continue to hear people compare us to Mississippi. You’re born the way you are born however.
moderateiadem Tue 4 Jun 6:06 PM
would not be surprised
to see a three-way or four-way Democratic primary.
All other things being equal, I would rather see Democrats nominate a woman in this district. However, I would need to know a lot more about Vernon’s positions on the issues before I would vote for her in a primary (not that I have a vote in IA-01 anyway).
desmoinesdem Tue 4 Jun 7:59 PM
Anesa K
Deeth says she was waiting on Jeff D. Now that he’s made a decision, maybe she’ll jump in!
rockm Wed 5 Jun 7:39 AM
trouble is
she would have to give up her Iowa House seat to run for Congress. My best guess is she will pass on IA-01.
desmoinesdem Wed 5 Jun 9:07 AM
Update
Todd Dorman’s got a poll going on the Gazette web site:
http://thegazette.com/2013/06/…
Vote early, and often !
rockm Wed 5 Jun 3:58 PM