Iowa House Speaker Kraig Paulsen has chickened out decided he feels compelled to continue serving in the state legislature rather than run for Congress in the open first district. In e-mails to supporters and House Republican colleagues today, Paulsen said he did not feel “called” to serve in Congress. Speaking to Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson, Paulsen elaborated,
“What in May and early June to some degree seemed like a very obvious and easy decision, as I started to work through it, it just became apparent to me that the task before me is in Des Moines, not Washington, D.C.”
Like most Iowa politics watchers, I had expected Paulsen to run, especially after I learned that his chief executive officer, Doug Struyk, resigned to become a lobbyist. Frankly, I am disappointed by the news. I believe Paulsen would have lost the GOP primary to Rod Blum, who has been campaigning around IA-01 for months and already started making a case against the “career politician” and “compromiser.” I also was looking forward to seeing who would prevail in an Iowa House Republican leadership election.
With Paulsen out, speculation will turn to two-term State Representative Walt Rogers, a rising star in the House GOP caucus. He confirmed earlier this year that he was considering the Congressional race. He would be the only Republican candidate from Waterloo/Cedar Falls, the second-largest metro area in the district. The other declared candidates are Steve Rathje of Cedar Rapids, the largest city in IA-01, and Blum of Dubuque, the third-largest city.
Paulsen said today that he expects to “have a Republican congressman” after next year’s election. The district leans Democratic with a partisan voting index of D+5. According to the latest figures from the Iowa Secretary of State’s office, IA-01 contains 162,447 active registered Democrats, 136,290 Republicans, and 192,715 no-party voters.
UPDATE: The full text of Paulsen’s e-mail to supporters is after the jump. Also, I forgot about former Cedar Rapids Mayor and Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, who indicated earlier this year that he was considering the IA-01 race. According to The Iowa Republican’s Kevin Hall, “the belief was he would not run if Paulsen did. However, even with Paulsen officially out of the race, Pate’s interest appears to be cooling.”
E-mail from Kraig Paulsen to supporters on August 7:
Friends,
I wanted to share with you all that I have decided to run for reelection to the Iowa House of Representatives in 2014. This is the direction I feel challenged to go and I believe this is where I can continue to have the greatest impact for all Iowa’s families.
As you have likely seen in the press, I gave the idea of running for United States Congress a thorough examination and had many discussions with my family, friends, and colleagues. Ultimately, I kept coming back to one of the most important reasons that I first ran for the Iowa House in 2002: I was seeking to overcome the challenges that exist in making Iowa a better place to live, work, and raise a family. It is these challenges facing Iowans that are the ones on which I want to focus my time and energy.
We have been able to accomplish much in my time in the legislature, and especially the last three years. We have gotten the state’s fiscal house back in order, passed meaningful education reform, ensured that the overcollection of tax dollars is returned to Iowa taxpayers, and provided the state’s largest property tax cut in history. We have done this all with a bipartisan spirit and with the best interest of Iowans in mind.
But, challenges remain before us in the state and before the Iowa Legislature. I am committed to addressing these challenges and I look forward to finding solutions this next year and beyond. Thank you for your continued thoughts, prayers, and support.