Former U.S. Representative David Young announced on February 28 that he will run for the Iowa House in the new district 28, an open seat. The district includes Van Meter, where Young has owned a home for several years. Young has not yet updated his social media feeds to reflect the legislative campaign, but sent a news release to some Iowa media.
A longtime Congressional staffer, including chief of staff to Senator Chuck Grassley, Young launched his own U.S. Senate campaign in 2013. He shifted gears to the U.S. House race in the third district after Representative Tom Latham announced plans to retire was elected in 2014 and 2016. As an incumbent, Young lost to Democrat Cindy Axne by 49.3 percent to 47.1 percent in 2018. As a challenger, he lost to Axne by a slightly smaller margin in 2020.
To my knowledge, Young is the first declared Republican candidate in House district 28. He should be able to clear the GOP field, given his establishment support and fundraising ability. Two Democrats are seeking to represent the House seat: Sonya Heitshusen and Tom Walton.
Iowa House district 28 covers the Dallas County portions of West Des Moines, along with Adel, Van Meter, and some rural areas.
According to a map Josh Hughes created in Dave’s Redistricting App, the new House district 28 tilts slightly to the GOP, with a sizable number of “never Trump” Republicans living in the area. Voters here favored Joe Biden over Donald Trump by 49.0 percent to 48.8 percent in the 2020 election, but preferred Senator Joni Ernst to her Democratic challenger Theresa Greenfield by 50.9 percent to 46.5 percent. In the 2018 governor’s race, residents of House district 28 split 50.2 percent for Republican incumbent Kim Reynolds and 48.1 percent for Democrat Fred Hubbell.
House district 28 makes up one half of the new Iowa Senate district 14, which will likely be a top-targeted race for both parties. Bleeding Heartland has most recently covered that race between Senate President Jake Chapman and Democratic State Senator Sarah Trone Garriott here and here.
UPDATE: I forgot to mention that Young was rumored to be a possible candidate for state auditor last year; a telephone poll even tested some messages about him as a candidate for that office. But those rumors were circulating when State Auditor Rob Sand was seen as likely to run for governor. Apparently Young had no appetite for challenging a Democratic incumbent.
Top photo of David Young first published on his political Facebook page.