Can We All Agree That Steve King Is The Most Odious Member Of Congress? Let's Get The DCCC Involved With Defeating Him

Kim Weaver is the chairman of the O'Brien County Democratic Party in the northwest corner of Iowa, close to where Minnesota, South Dakota and Nebraska abut her state. In 2016 she took on the thankless tasking of running against her notoriously bigoted congressman, Steve King. And she's working towards a re-match for 2018. Trump won the district last November-- 60.9% to 33.5%. In 2012 it was the only Iowa district Obama didn't win. Romney took it 53.4% to 45.3%. In November Trump won all the Iowa districts, even the blue-leaning ones. There was a real red tide in Iowa last year. At the top of the ticket, Hillary and Patty Judge, two extremely disliked establishment politicians, dragged the whole party down with them. Kim did better than either though, winning 38.6% compared to Hillary's 33.5% in the 4th. She also won the biggest county in the district (Story County, which includes Ames), 25,785 to 21,202-- slightly better than Hillary. Judge-- who was shoved down Iowa voters' throats by a clueless Chuck Schumer-- lost Story County 25,020 to 20,934. In fact, Kim beat Hillary and beat Patty Judge in every single one of IA-04's 39 counties. With no support from the DCCC whatsoever and very limited fundraising-- she spent $148,531 to King's $954,150-- her grassroots campaign spent $1.22 per vote for about the same result the 2014 candidate, Jim Mowrer, got when he outspent King ($2,167,517 to $1,983,501)-- almost $20 per vote.

Friends of mine in Iowa have told me that the DCCC doesn't even want to defeat King because they raise so much money from his regular insane outburst (like the ones earlier this week). Kim, on the other hand, cares very much about working to retire this crackpot. I asked her how she thinks she can win in such a red district against someone who is so entrenched. Although, as a county chair, she was heavily pressured to caucus for Hillary, her issues are Bernie's issues and she told me that she's tremendously encouraged by grassroots activity in the district from Indivisible groups, from Our Revolution and from a group called No More King. I asked her to introduce herself to DWT readers with a guest post. Please give it a read and if you like what you see, please consider contributing to her campaign by tapping the thermometer on the right. And remember, when you give money to outfits like the DCCC, the DNC or Emily's List falling all over themselves to "defeat Steve King," they have done nothing to defeat Steve King at all and just use the money for their own lousy conservative candidates in other parts of the country and give nothing-- ZERO-- towards Kim Weaver's campaign.

Can Steve King Finally Be Repealed And Replaced?
-by Kim Weaver

In April of 2015 I informed the Chair of the Iowa Democratic Party that I had decided to run against Representative Steve King in the 2016 race. Her response was a look of relief as well as a big hug. I’m pretty sure she had been worried that no one would step up and take him on and now, at least we had someone who was sane and articulate who could be the sacrificial lamb for the Party. I knew going into the race that it was a very uphill climb and that I would get very little help from the Party itself, but what I didn’t fully realize was how much I would have to fight just to get basic support on a state and national level.

Prior to running I had a lot of experience as a campaign volunteer with my union, as well as in my role as Chair of the O’Brien County Democrats. With the help of the Osceola County Chair, Kathy Winter, I co-founded a group we named the SOLO Democrats. This group was made up of four of the reddest counties in the state, Sioux, O’Brien, Lyon, and Osceola. Until 2012 it was almost impossible to get a national candidate to that area of the state, but we were able to organize an event for the congressional candidate, Christie Vilsack with a turnout of over 100 people. This was pretty much unheard of in this part of the state. As a result of my organizing work, in late 2014 the Des Moines Register named me one of the top 50 Democratic activists in the state.

Because I’m a single mom with two kids still in college, it was impossible for me at the time to quit my job which made fundraising very difficult. The majority of my funding came from small dollar donations, mainly through Twitter, Facebook, emails, and small private fundraisers. I got by with a team of only two paid staffers. Thankfully a good friend volunteered full time and drove me throughout the district from soup suppers to parades to county central committee meetings. In all, I put on over 48,000 miles on my car over a fifteen month time period.

I lived on about four hours of sleep a night, but as exhausting as it was, I truly enjoyed getting out and talking with people about the issues that were important to them. We discussed health care, expanding Medicare, a volunteer program for people with student loan debt, and innovative ideas to improve water quality. People were listening and supportive of my ideas.

The most disappointing aspect of the campaign was being told time and again that although I was a “great candidate,” various organizations declined to support me because I wasn’t “viable.” Most organizations didn’t even respond to my applications for assistance. Additionally, whenever my opponent would say some new horrific thing, I would get emails after emails from organizations asking for money to “help defeat Steve King.” Not a single one of those organizations passed along any of that support. King was a big money maker for them, and it appears that he still is.

At the end of the campaign I started getting phone calls and messages from supporters, telling me that the coordinated campaign in several offices wouldn’t give out my yard signs unless the person who wanted one would sign up for a volunteer shift. I had to call one office to tell them to give my literature to a volunteer because they refused when she first came in, telling her that she had to carry lit for everyone. She refused and left.

I don’t want to give the impression that I had no assistance from the Party. I received numerous donations from county committees, even ones outside my district. Additionally, Governor Martin O’Malley, Congressmen Eric Swalwell (CA-D), IA State Senator Jack Hatch, IBEW, NEA, and SEIU were generous and supportive. I am deeply appreciative of their help. 

In the end, the lessons I’ve learned are many. I’ve learned that there are great people in the 4th District who are hungry for a representative who will focus on solutions, not division. During my campaign, I talked about ways we can improve the lives of all our neighbors. I know that this battle won’t be easy, but deeply believe it is one worth fighting and one that we can win IF I get the support I need.