Iowa voters head to the polls on Tuesday night to determine the Republican nominee in Iowa's U.S. House 1st District, and Rod Blum and Ben Lange are gearing up for a fierce battle for the spot.
Ron Blum is a Dubuque businessman who is hoping to defeat Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Waterloo, in November, but he first has to go through Lange, a 33-year-old attorney in Independence who nearly upset Braley in 2010. According to Blum, "I think part of the problem is we've got people [in Washington, D.C. on both sides of the aisle who have been there 30 and 40 years," Blum said Thursday in Cedar Rapids. "They go there to do what's right. They're idealistic. After a while they become part of the problem."
Blum has said he promises to only serve three terms in the House and accept only $39,366 of a congressman's $174,000 salary. "Maybe if a congressman had to live like the average American has to live, maybe things would be different."
PolicyMic will be following the results of Iowa's House race live. Refresh this page for live updates.
UPDATE: FINAL UPDATE: Lange 52.7% (10,608 votes), Blum 47.3% (9,517 votes). Final numbers to come tomorrow in the AM.
11:24 PM 77.7% reporting: Lange 51.4% (9,134 votes), Blum 48.6% (8,643 votes).
11:00 PM: 34.3% reporting: Lange 55.2% (4,951 votes), Blum 44.8% (4,012 votes).
10:27 PM 4.3% reporting: Lange 60.1% (1,020 votes) vs. Blum 39.9% (678 votes).
10:13 PM Results have begun to come in. Only 0.5% reporting: Lange 64.9% (179 votes) vs. Blum 35.1% (97 votes).
Still awaiting the results from Iowa, which are expected to come in soon. 0% reporting.
