Thomas Heckroth’s campaign rolled out a long list of endorsers for his candidacy in Iowa’s 1st District Democratic primary today. State Representative Art Staed of Cedar Rapids joins Iowa House colleague Bruce Bearinger (who announced his support earlier) in backing the Waverly native. And he added a large host of activists and former elected officials from Black Hawk and Linn counties, including former congressional and state legislative candidate Gary Kroeger and Linn County Supervisor Ben Rogers.
“Thomas understands the challenges facing the 1st District, but he also knows there’s tremendous potential to grow these communities and create new opportunity,” said former Linn County Supervisor Linda Langston in a press release.
The full list of new supporters are:
Ben Rogers, Linn County Supervisor
Gary Kroeger, former congressional candidate, Black Hawk County
The addition of so many Black Hawk County names points to Heckroth’s efforts to solidify his base of support in the Cedar Falls/Waterloo section of the district. Heckroth lives in Cedar Falls and will need to turn that into a regional stronghold for him in the primary to prevail over Representative Abby Finkenauer of Dubuque. One of the big battlegrounds between the two will come in Cedar Rapids, where Heckroth has started to pick up a few well-known names with Staed, Langston and Rogers.
The 3rd quarter campaign finance filings showed Heckroth as decently competitive with Finkenauer in the money race, bringing in lots of small and mid-size donations from the district and beyond. Finkenauer starts out the race with a more well-known profile after two terms in the Iowa House, though Heckroth has been running a diligent campaign, picking up activists’ support as he travels around the district.
“Rod Blum has spent years in Washington failing to stand up for the families he represents. I know we can defeat him in November by building a grassroots network and meeting with Iowans in every corner of the 1st District,” Heckroth said in a release. “I’m humbled to have earned the support of these 1st District leaders and elected officials. Their confidence and support in our campaign is critical as we continue to grow our grassroots network.”
by Pat Rynard
Posted 10/18/17
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