Ryan Melton is challenging incumbent Congressman Randy Feenstra for the second time. The voter registration margin for Democrats in the Fourth District is about as bleak historically as it is for any race in the country.
And yet…
Read on. Listen to the call, and decide for yourself.
Landowners in northwest Iowa are furious over the proposed pipeline that would take over their land, THEIR LAND, for a project many believe is not only noxious but an unnecessary boondoggle that would benefit a small group. Comparing the proposed pipeline route to the district boundary lines, an observer could conclude that this young, reluctant politician might have a political wedge issue yet to be fully deployed here.
Clean water. Who’s against clean water? No one. What agribusiness interests oppose, however, is the government regulation required to change harmful practices that pollute rivers and streams. That is a powerful lobbying group, and media companies serving Iowa need their advertising dollars.
Third, the incumbent, Randy Feenstra, won a tough primary, and his opponent - Kevin Virgil - clocked almost a 40% whack at Feenstra’s vote totals. So, he is a weakened incumbent.
On Saturday, Feenstra’s opponent endorsed Ryan Melton. Read Laura Belin’s story.
Can a prairie populist be victorious in a year where we’ve seen candidates win with more passion than dollars and cents? It’s been happening all over. And it happened in 1974 when Tom Harkin and Berkley Bedell were swept into office in a different kind of anomaly year - Watergate. And they represented large chunks of the current Fourth District.
Today, Nevada, Algona, Humbolt, and Dickinson County participants joined our Zoom call. They cite a weakening of local Trump support as anecdotal evidence for optimism for Melton.
What pols in Washington do not see are the crowds of people showing up across the state to hear folks talk about water quality and the high rate of cancer diagnosis in Iowa. These Iowans are outraged about having their land seized against their will for a pipeline they don’t want and believe can harm their land and families.
Can Ryan Melton win on a budget less than it cost to run a congressional campaign 50 years ago? Can he win while only being able to campaign on weekends, driving a 2014 Toyota Corolla with over 235,000 miles, kept together by tape? Can he run while performing his day job, overseeing a team of Nationwide Insurance service advisors.
Will voters forgive a GOP incumbent who serves on the House Agriculture Committee for not having a Farm Bill? Or an incumbent who hasn’t secured federal funds for his district, even though a bridge collapsed in Plymouth County and other infrastructure issues have been found inadequate, as revealed in the recent flooding of northwest Iowa.
And, dear reader, don’t forget women are registering and turning out in droves nationwide. A force we have yet to measure and quantify in Iowa.
Stranger things have happened here politically. Barack Obama won the Iowa Caucus and the general election twice in Iowa.
After Trump was first elected President Obama said one of the reasons was that the party had forsaken the rural vote.
Obama’s campaign manager, David Plouffe, cut his teeth in Iowa grassroots politics and is now involved in the Harris/Walz campaign. So, there’s that.
Plus, America’s coach is Iowa’s neighbor to the north.
None of these points alone would matter, but collectively? Who knows.
For more information:
It’s a tough slog based on the current voter registration numbers:
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Could Ryan Melton mount a political upset that would shock pundits?