Former Iowa House Speaker Pat Murphy made his second Congressional campaign official this morning. In the shortest YouTube candidate announcement video I’ve ever seen (just fourteen seconds long), Murphy declared, “The truck’s up and running…and so am I.” A press release announced, “Middle Class Fighter to Take on [GOP incumbent Rod] Blum,” and a e-mail to supporters fleshed out Murphy’s case. Excerpt:

Teri and I discussed this race long and hard and the bottom line is that middle class Iowans deserve to have a voice in Congress, somebody who knows the struggles they face, and will fight for them.  I’ve done that my whole life, because that’s who I am.  And there’s no other candidate running – from either party – who has been on the right side of these fights from day one.

From raising the minimum wage and teacher pay, passing equal pay for women, to protecting women’s health care and all Iowan’s civil rights.  That’s my record.  Fighting for progressive Iowa values is in my blood, with your help, it’s exactly what I’ll do in Congress.

Murphy’s campaign is on the web at Pat Murphy for Congress, on Facebook here, and Twitter here. (His old campaign website is no longer functional.)

I enclose below the candidate’s full e-mail to supporters, as well as excerpts from the press release. It points to Murphy’s lead in a recent internal poll of Democrats in IA-01 and recalls his outright victory in the 2014 primary, despite being outspent by some of his four opponents. The press release also notes that in the general election, Murphy outperformed both U.S. Senate nominee Bruce Braley and the gubernatorial ticket of Jack Hatch and Monica Vernon. Vernon has been considered the front-runner for the 2016 primary in IA-01, on the strength of early fundraising and endorsements from Iowa-based and Washington Democrats. Gary Kroeger is also seeking the Democratic nomination.

Former U.S. Representative Dave Nagle is backing Murphy for Congress again, as is the Blue America PAC, which supports progressive candidates in Democratic primaries as well as against Republicans in general elections. Murphy dominated the labor union endorsements before the 2014 primary. I’ll be interested to see whether Vernon picks up more labor support this cycle. So far, she has the backing of Teamsters Local 238, the “largest Teamster Local headquartered in the state of Iowa,” and the  Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Building Trades Council, which supported her during the 2014 primary. UPDATE: Added below a Vernon campaign press release “welcoming” Murphy to the race and listing her key endorsers. They include several Iowa House Democrats who served in the legislature while Murphy was speaker from 2007 through 2010. SECOND UPDATE: Added Kroeger’s statement below.

Excerpt from a July 23 press release:

Pat Murphy Announces Congressional Bid

Middle Class Fighter to Take on Blum

[…]

1st District Facts

·       A July poll shows Murphy with a sizable lead in either a 3-way or 2-way Primary.

·       Despite being outspent in 2014 during a 5-way primary, Pat Murphy won enough votes on Primary night to win the nomination without a convention.

·       During the General Election, Murphy received more votes in the 1st District than Bruce Braley or the Hatch/Vernon ticket in 2014.

MURPHY EMAIL TO SUPPORTERS

Dear Friends,

It’s official.  We’re getting the band back together to run for Congress in the First District!

(embedded YouTube video of Murphy in his white pickup truck)

Thank you for all the kind words and encouragement over the past few months.

Teri and I discussed this race long and hard and the bottom line is that middle class Iowans deserve to have a voice in Congress, somebody who knows the struggles they face, and will fight for them.  I’ve done that my whole life, because that’s who I am.  And there’s no other candidate running – from either party – who has been on the right side of these fights from day one.

From raising the minimum wage and teacher pay, passing equal pay for women, to protecting women’s health care and all Iowan’s civil rights.  That’s my record.  Fighting for progressive Iowa values is in my blood, with your help, it’s exactly what I’ll do in Congress.

Help me fight for those values by donating today.

Rod Blum is part of a dangerous majority.  But I’m not running to beat Rod Blum.  I’m running because protecting Social Security is vital to Iowa seniors. Because it’s time to pay workers what they’re worth, to make sure my grandkids can go to college without signing up for massive debt, and to finally stand up to Wall Street when they rip off hard working Americans.

I don’t expect this to be an easy road, but I’ve never shied away from hard work.  I promise to work for your vote, work to beat Rod Blum, and never stop working for you in Congress.

But this is not a one-man-band, and it only works if you join us.  I’d be honored to have your support again.

Pat

Contribute to Team Murphy today.

UPDATE: Vernon for Congress sent out this press release on July 23:

MONICA VERNON RELEASES STATEMENT WELCOMING PAT MURPHY TO THE RACE

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA – Following Pat Murphy’s announcement today that he’s entering the race for the Democratic nomination in Iowa’s 1st congressional district, Cedar Rapids City Councilwoman Monica Vernon released the following statement:

“I welcome Pat Murphy to the race. Congress needs to start moving again to do work like raise the minimum wage, pass equal pay, and ensure the promises we’ve made to our seniors never get broken, and that’s exactly what I plan to keep talking to voters about here in northeast Iowa. We’ve got to make sure we send someone to Congress who works hard everyday for hardworking Iowans.”

Please find a full list of endorsements for Monica Vernon’s campaign for Congress below.

EMILY’s List

Tri-State Maxed Out Women

Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Building Trades Council AFL-CIO

Teamsters Local 238

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand

Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer

U.S. Representative Dave Loebsack (IA-02)

U.S. Representative Lois Frankel (FL-22)

U.S. Representative Cheri Bustos (IL-17)

U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (IL-09)

U.S. Representative Ann McLane Kuster (NH-02)

U.S. Representative Denny Heck (WA-10)

Iowa’s Attorney General Tom Miller  

Iowa’s Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald

Iowa’s First Assistant Attorney General and former Iowa House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy

Former U.S. Representative Berkley Bedell

First Female Lt. Governor of Iowa Jo Ann Zimmerman

Former Democratic Party Chair Tyler Olson

State Senator and President of the Senate Pam Jochum

State Senator Tom Courtney

State Senator Joe Bolkcom

State Senator Bob Dvorsky

State Senator Rob Hogg

State Senator Liz Mathis

State Senator Rich Taylor

State Representative Ako Abdul-Samad

State Representative Jerry Kearns

State Representative Liz Bennett

State Representative Mary Mascher

State Representative Kirsten Running-Marquardt

State Representative Art Staed

State Representative Sally Stutsman

State Representative Cindy Winckler

State Representative Dave Jacoby

State Representative Helen Miller

State Representative Todd Prichard

State Representative Phyllis Thede

Fmr. State Senator Tom Flynn

Fmr. State Senator Bev Hannon

Fmr. State Senator Jack Hatch

Fmr. State Senator Jack Kibbie

Fmr. State Senator Jean Lloyd-Jones

Fmr. State Representative Jane Teaford

Linn County Supervisor Ben Rogers

Fmr. Linn County Supervisor Lu Barron

Mayor of Marion Snooks Bouska

Cedar Rapids City Councilmember Ann Poe

Cedar Rapids City Councilmember Justin Shields

Fmr. Mayor of Cedar Rapids Lee Clancey

SECOND UPDATE: July 23 press release from Kroeger for Congress.

Gary Kroeger’s statement on Pat Murphy entering IA-01 Race

Waterloo, IA – Gary Kroeger, democratic candidate in IA-01, has made the following comment regarding Pat Murphy’s entrance back into the IA-01 democratic primary.

“I welcome Speaker Murphy to the race to represent the Democratic Party in 2016 against Congressman Rod Blum. I look forward to having a spirited debate with Speaker Murphy, Councilwoman Vernon and any others who enter this race for congress. I will continue to travel the district, talking about aggressively defending and promoting progressive values and reassuring democratic voters that just because we took a bad loss in 2014 doesn’t mean we have to shrink from our progressive principles.”

“As I travel the district, voters are reaffirming that w

To learn more about Gary Kroeger’s progressive vision, voters can go to www.KROEGERforCONGRESS.com