Braley win caps 2-year quest
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By Ed Tibbetts | Wednesday, November 08, 2006 |
Scott Mussell/LEE NEWS SERVICE Democrat Bruce Braley, who won election Tuesday to Iowa’s 1st Congressional District seat, addresses the crowd at the Black Hawk County Democratic election party in Waterloo. Braley defeated Mike Whalen of Bettendorf. in a high profile election.
John Schultz/QUAD-CITY TIMES Republican Mike Whalen watches the results as they start to come in while being interviewed at an election night party at Thunder Bay Grille in Davenport. Whalen lost to Democrat Bruce Braley of Waterloo, Iowa, in the 1st Congressional District race.
For the first time since the Watergate era, voters in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District elected a Democrat on Tuesday, picking Bruce Braley by a wide margin over Republican Mike Whalen in one of the nation’s premier races.
Braley’s win ended a two-year quest that started in early 2005 with seven suitors and turned into — at last tally — a $9.5 million race, easily a record for the Quad-Cities.
With 89 percent of the vote counted, Braley had 104,676 votes, or 55 percent, with Whalen receiving 81,072, or 43 percent, according to the unofficial tally.
James Hill of Eldridge got 1,969 votes, or 1 percent, while Albert Schoeman of Waterloo received 1,067 votes, also 1 percent.
Braley’s win was broad. He took all three of the largest counties in the 12-county district: Black Hawk, Dubuque and even Scott County, Whalen’s home.
Whalen called Braley to concede late last night in what an adviser called a “cordial” conversation.
Braley, who started his day at 5 a.m. greeting workers in front of the Oscar Mayer gate in Davenport, was full of energy after 10:30 p.m. when he went before a packed house at the United Auto Workers union hall in Waterloo.
“Wow,” he exclaimed, as the crowd cheered. “I am so honored to be elected to represent Iowa’s 1st Congressional District.”
Braley pledged to take the district in a “positive new direction.”
Meanwhile, at Thunder Bay Grille in Davenport, Whalen, the Bettendorf founder of the Heart of America hospitality chain, thanked supporters for their help but said they couldn’t withstand the Democratic wave that won the party control of the U.S. House.
“I think it turned out to be a year when there was a little too much wind in our face,” he said.
The last time a Democrat won the 1st District seat was 1974 when Ed Mezvinsky, an Iowa City Democrat, won re-election.
He lost in 1976 to Jim Leach and Republicans have held the seat since.
With incumbent Rep. Jim Nussle, R-Iowa, vacating the job to run for governor, however, Democrats saw an opportunity in a left-leaning district to pick up a seat while Republicans hoped their traditional hold on the seat would persist.
The National Republican Congressional Committee spent $2.3 million on the race, most of it on television ads attacking Braley’s career. One ad linked him to the Communist Party
In an interview, Braley said that he thought the ads backfired because they were over the top.
Democrats, meanwhile, spent $1.2 million opposing Whalen, much of it on ads accusing him of being too closely tied to President Bush or of paying his workers only the minimum wage, a charge he denied.
Braley and Whalen took vastly different stands on about every significant national issue, from Iraq to stem cell research, from trade to taxes.
Braley called for a quick pullout from Iraq, while Whalen warned that would lead to chaos.
Braley also called for an increase in the minimum wage, something Whalen would approve only with certain conditions.
Turnout in the district appeared to be a bit above what it was in the last midterm in 2002.
Republicans had hoped early in the day that their own base would turn out in big numbers and prove the pundits wrong. By the end of the evening, though, it was clear the year had gone the Democrats way in many races, including in the 1st District.
Ed Tibbetts can be contacted at (563) 383-2327 or etibbetts@qctimes.com.
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