Roll Call Declares All Iowa Congressional Races Competitive, Including Archer V. Loebsack

Second Iowa District U.S. Congressman Dave Loebsack, (D- IA) will have to figure out his new district, namely the Quad Cities, if he wants to secure another term in Congress.

So says the analysis of political publication Roll Call, which declared in a story published yesterday that all of the Iowa races at the U.S. Congressional level appear competitive, and even comfortable incumbents like Loebsack and Steve King, (R- IA) should receive tough challenges this fall. This is perhaps not so surprising in a state that couldn't be much more evenly divided politically, added to redistricting and a lot of attention in a presidential election year.

Here's what Roll Call had to say about Loebsack's election chances going up against his challenger John Archer, a Bettendorf Lawyer:

Republicans are bullish about the 2nd district in southeastern Iowa, where Rep. Dave Loebsack (D) faces a challenge from John Archer (R), a former John Deere attorney. Republicans have reserved $750,000 in airtime to boost Archer, about $165,000 more than the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has allocated to the district.

It is a Democratic district, but even Loebsack's supporters acknowledge the former college professor is not a strong campaigner. He held a massive cash advantage at the end of June, but that lead could be quickly erased if an outside group decides to target the race.

Even with these challenges, Roll Call has the new second district as still leaning toward a Democratic winner, downgraded from a rating of "Likely Democratic" winner.

For reference, here's a link to a Gazette story about congressional redistricting that has a handy map of the new districts.