Representative Leonard Boswell filed nominating papers yesterday to run for an eighth term in Iowa’s third Congressional district. That’s no surprise, since Boswell has been saying he’ll run again since November 2008 and repeated that in January and February of this year.
But ever since the National Republican Congressional Committee put Boswell on a potential House Democrat retirement list in December, influential Washington-based analysts like Chris Cillizza have been saying Boswell might retire. The foot-soldiers at The Iowa Republican blog did their part to keep the rumors going, despite the lack of evidence.
Boswell and others in his camp commented on the bogus speculation to the Des Moines Register:
“This rumor stuff was completely invented in Washington, D.C.,” said JoDee Winterhof, a veteran Democratic adviser and former Boswell campaign aide. […]
Last month came another twist.
An automated telephone survey went out in the district asking potential Democratic primary voters about potential Boswell alternatives. The calls rekindled rumors that Boswell was getting out and that an alternative candidate was being vetted.
The national GOP campaign said the calls were not their work. Democrats said it would cost very little to buy a round of calls to reignite doubt. […]
His 2008 campaign manager, Grant Woodard, has remained on his campaign staff. Recently, he brought on a finance director.
“I hope that puts it to rest. The story keeps popping up in D.C.,” Boswell said. “They seem to think, if you say it over and over and over, that it’s going to grow legs.”
I never heard from any respondents who received that robo-poll last month, but it didn’t sound to me like a genuine attempt to vet alternatives to Boswell.
At least five and up to seven Republicans are competing for the chance to run against Boswell this year. Republican insiders favor Jim Gibbons, but the crowded field may force the GOP nomination to be decided at a district convention.
4 Comments
Darn.
eltondavis Sat 6 Mar 10:55 AM
at the Polk convention today....
Gibbons had seemingly very few supporters in evidence, as well as a very lackluster speech focused on his wrestling career. (Surprisingly, his new campaign brochure features ONLY 20 year old plus pictures on the entire inside of it…Gibbons wants us all to focus on those old glory days)
Both Brad Zaun and Dave Funk had large and vocal turnouts and both delivered with good speeches at the convention.
At this point it looks as if Gibbons is fighting with Rees for a single digit third place (and that was evidenced in the publically released poll)
mirage Sat 6 Mar 2:05 PM
very early, mirage
and Gibbons hasn’t started spending money to raise his ID yet.
But I find it surprising if he didn’t have his act together to get supporters elected as delegates to the district convention. That should have been a top priority for all the GOP candidates in this race.
I have no dog in this race, but I would find it amusing to see Gibbons lose the primary after all the Republican hype. On the other hand, he strikes me as not ready for prime time, so maybe he would be an easier opponent for Boswell.
desmoinesdem Sat 6 Mar 3:05 PM
Good point
I always wanted to start a draft Fred Hoiberg for something campaign given that he did an event for Edwards and seemed to have a genuine interest in politics. Fred presumably lives in Minnesota working with the Timberwolves I think. The whole star athlete from Iowa State theory is being tested though. I don’t think Mr. Gibbons did much policy prep before he jumped in, but I could be wrong.
How about those Lady Hawks and Iowa State always has a good women’s team it seems. UNI looks to potentially be making another return to the big dance on the men’s side. Three cheers for all our outstanding student athletes.
moderateiadem Sat 6 Mar 3:29 PM