Before There Was Donald Trump, Northern Iowa Already Had Steve King

It's hard to determine who the worst member of Congress is. Devin Nunes? Dana Rohrabacher? Marsha Blackburn? Paul Ryan? Jim Jordan? All horrible-- but there is no list of the most horrible congressmembers that wouldn't include Steve King (R-IA). An unreconstructed racist, xenophobe and bigot, whose neo-fascist sympathies are always boiling just below his volatile surface, King doesn't do anything for his sprawling north Iowa district. He has spent his whole 16 years in Congress trying to out-extremist every other Republican in Washington.

This year, King finds himself facing a strong progressive Democrat running for the seat, former Iowa baseball player J.D. Scholten. Scholten has always been a team player and his campaign is all about solidarity with Iowa farmers and workers-- a strong work ethic, integrity and energy have been the hallmarks of his campaign and these kinds of Iowa values are what he hopes to bring to Congress to serve the people in his communities. "I believe in the old-school style of politics of Berkley Bedell and Tom Harkin," he told us. "What I learned from them is that if you get out to the people, show that you can be trusted, and prove that you will fight for them-- you can earn their vote."

Meanwhile, King has served eight terms in Congress and passed one bill: renaming a post office. J.D. would be a complete reversal from Steve King's politics of fear and division. J.D.'s campaign motto is "Standing Tall for All," not just because he's 6'6", but because he's fighting for all of the people of the district. Ever since I met him last year, he's been saying "Iowa's 4th District deserves a voice who cares more about building our future than dividing us apart."

J.D. Scholten and Steve King are on opposite sides of most of the issues as well. J.D. wants to fight to ensure that every Iowan-- and every American-- has access to affordable healthcare with a long term goal of Medicare-for-All. In discussions, J.D. has told me that King wants to "Rip (Obamacare) Out by the Roots" and go back to a system where insurance companies and big pharma write the laws and can deny coverage to those with pre-existing conditions. J.D. wants to combat climate change; Steve King, on the other hand, always calls it a hoax. Farmers have been struggling to make a profit for over 4 years now and that's even before Trump's tariffs kicked in. J.D. has made helping farmers a top priority, while King has missed almost 40% of the Agriculture Committee meeting during his time in Congress. Finally, while Steve King receives 30% of his campaign cash from corporate PACs, J.D. refuses to accept any corporate PAC donations. Even with this uneven playing field, Scholten's campaign keeps outraising King. That's grassroots power and almost 13,000 individual donors. Please consider helping Scholten retire one of Congress' most enduring arch villains by clicking on the 2018 congressional thermometer above.