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U.S. Senate

Iowa Democrat Braley to run for Senate

Jennifer Jacobs, The Des Moines Register
Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, left, talks with Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, in Dubuque, Iowa, on Saturday.
  • Braley was elected to the House in 2006
  • Harkin is retiring after five terms
  • GOP Reps. Tom Latham and Steve King top Republican wish lists

U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley intends to run for the U.S. Senate seat that fellow Democrat Tom Harkin will leave open in 2014, his advisers told The Des Moines Register this morning.

Braley, who many top Iowa Democrats have long hoped would succeed Harkin, sent out the news in an email to supporters this morning saying he's "ready to go."

His formal announcement will come later, but today he is setting up a committee to run for the U.S. Senate – a big step forward, said Jeff Link, Braley's senior adviser. Filing the paperwork will mean Braley can begin to raise money for a Senate campaign.

Harkin, 73, startled even those closest to him when revealed less than two weeks ago, on Jan. 26, that he will retire in two years after four decades in Congress. Harkin said he wants to clear the way for younger Iowans to take the reins in higher political office, noting that the Democratic lineup for the next generation of top Iowa elected officials depended on his decision.

"I want you to be the first to know," Braley, a 55-year-old congressman from northeast Iowa, says in his announcement email. "It's a big responsibility to represent the people of Iowa in the United States Senate, especially after Tom Harkin has shown us how for the last 30 years. But, if you are willing to help me, I'm ready to go. That's why today, I'm setting up a committee to run for the U.S. Senate."

The heavy political speculation now shifts to who will run on the GOP side – Iowa congressmen Tom Latham and Steve King top Republicans' wish lists – and who will seek to replace Braley in Iowa's 1st Congressional District.

Recent polling has shown that for the U.S. Senate seat, King is likely GOP primary voters' most popular pick, while Braley is the top choice among general election voters.

Link, a Democratic strategist from Des Moines told the Register this morning he thinks Braley can win for a few reasons.

"He has experience on the issues and a strong record of accomplishment. His perspective has been shaped by growing up in a small town in a middle class family and raising a family a contributing to his community. And finally, he is smart and will worker harder than any candidate in the race," Link said.

Braley will run to "build on a legacy of putting middle class Iowans first," Link said. "He has been able to get things done in the house, but he believes he can do more for the state as Iowa's senator."

Braley, a Waterloo attorney who grew up in Brooklyn, Ia., has a reputation for being smart, ambitious and ready for higher office, Democratic insiders have said. In November 2012, he earned the most votes of any U.S. House candidate in Iowa in November 2012, when he was re-elected to represent the 1st Congressional District, which encompasses 20 counties in the state's northeast corner. After he was first elected in 2006, he was the first freshman in decades to chair a U.S. House subcommittee. He is seen as a strong fundraiser who beat back a tough challenge in 2010 when independent Republican groups threw more than $1 million in TV advertising against him.

Within an hour, a "Braley for Iowa" Facebook page had more than 300 "likes."

"I support you 100%!" wrote Faith Baer, a University of Northern Iowa graduate.

Charles City resident Tom Brunscheon wrote: "I'd rather see Governor Braley…"

At the beginning of 2013, when all signs pointed to a re-election bid by Harkin, Braley began to talking privately with Iowa Democratic power brokers about a possible bid for the governor's office. Braley immediately switched gears when Harkin announced the door to the Senate would be wide open.

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