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Wednesday, Feb 27, 2013 10:00 PM UTC

GOP Rep. Latham to pass on Iowa Senate bid

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Topics: From the Wires, ,

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Congressman Tom Latham, who had been considered the establishment Republican choice for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated next year by retiring Democrat Tom Harkin, announced Wednesday that he won’t seek the job.

Latham, a 10-term Republican from Clive, said in a statement that he could not “in good conscience launch a two-year statewide campaign that will detract from the commitment” to the new district he was elected to in November.

Attention now turns to U.S. Rep. Steve King of Kiron. King, a conservative from northwest Iowa, has also said he is weighing a Senate bid but was not expected to challenge Latham in a primary.

Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley, a four-term House member from Waterloo, is the only announced Democrat for the seat.

Although Harkin, 73, was expected to hold the seat for Democrats if he ran again, he opted last month not to seek a sixth term. Republicans would need to gain six seats in 2014 to eclipse Democrats for the majority.

Latham, a soft-spoken former businessman, had represented more than half of Iowa’s counties during nearly 20 years in Congress and was considered a good fundraising match for Braley, a former courtroom lawyer.

National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Brad Dayspring praised Latham’s “commitment to his constituents.”

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad urged Latham to seek the nomination during a private meeting this month at the governor’s mansion in Des Moines.

Branstad, who also met with King privately, said he urged King to develop more of a statewide network and consider running in 2016, should Republican Sen. Charles Grassley decide against running for a sixth term. Branstad said King had proven himself to be a disciplined campaigner in his high-profile race against former Iowa first lady Christie Vilsack last year.

A national group started by former George W. Bush adviser Karl Rove identified King as a potential target in its mission to field candidates more acceptable to general election audiences after GOP Senate candidates lost in races seen as within their reach in 2010 and 2012.

By Thomas Beaumont

More By Thomas Beaumont.

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  • The protests take on a festive element as police forces move out of the park and square. Wearing a gas mask, this young man dances to traditional Turkish music in front of Taksim Square’s Ataturk Monument.

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