Northwest Iowa — It’s political debate season in Iowa. Half a dozen debates among candidates for governor and congress have been held already. The final two debates between Republican Governor Kim Reynolds and Democratic challenger Fred Hubbell will be held this week. There will be no debate, however, featuring candidates in Iowa’s fourth congressional district.
Incumbent Republican Congressman Steve King says a debate is unnecessary.
King is seeking a ninth term in the U.S. House. He last debated a General Election opponent in 2012 when he faced former Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack. J.D. Scholten, a Democrat from Sioux City, is challenging King this year. Scholten says debates are about holding candidates accountable.
Scholten is holding town hall meetings in each of the 39 counties in the district.
Scholten says you can’t fake showing up and King has stopped holding town hall meetings in the district.
King says he speaks with thousands of people in “tele-town hall” meetings and meets face-to-face with constituents, but stopped doing public town hall meetings in the district because they’ve turned into a forum for protesters.
Scholten launched his campaign 15 months ago and has out-raised King in each quarter. Over the last three months, Scholten raised $661-thousand. That’s four times as much as King raised during the same period for his reelection campaign.
