Steve King survives to win reelection in Iowa Back to Top Live coverage: See new updates Live coverage: See new updates Rep...
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Rep. Steve King, the embattled eight-term Republican congressman who has declared his support for ethnic nationalism and made a series of other racially incendiary comments, survived a challenge from a first-time Democratic candidate, J.D. Scholten, preserving the GOPâs control of Iowaâs 4th Congressional District.
The district, which lies in the northwest quadrant of the state, was long considered safe Republican territory. King barely campaigned, recycling an ad from an old campaign and refusing to debate his opponent.
But the nonpartisan Cook Political Report last week moved the race from âlikelyâ to âleanâ Republican, as King, 69, became engulfed in controversy in the aftermath of the massacre of 11 congregants at a Pittsburgh synagogue.
At a town hall last week, King erupted when an attendee asked him whether his hard-line views on race and identity bore resemblance to those of the Robert Bowers, the man accused of the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in the nationâs history.
Meanwhile, the Republican said Monday that he hoped Supreme Cour t Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor âwill elope to Cuba,â hours before he was to appear with Iowaâs governor in an election-eve rally.
Some of his Republican colleagues have criticized Kingâs rhetoric, and the House Republican campaign arm said it wouldnât âplayâ in his race as several major corporations cut off financial support.
But Kingâs once-fringe views have moved further into the mainstream under the Trump presidency, and he retained support from party bigwigs, such as Sen. Charles E. Grassley, also of Iowa.
King has long made controversial statements, comparing immigrants to dogs and saying young migrants had âcalves the size of cantaloupesâ because they were transporting heavy loads of marijuana. In 2015, he tweeted a cartoon depicting then-President Barack Obama wearing a turban.
His party didnât rebuke him in June when he retweeted a message from a self-described âNazi sympathizer.â Last month, he voiced support for Faith Goldy, an unsuccessful Toronto mayoral candidate who has promoted the false notion that a âwhite genocideâ is underway. And last week, reports surfaced that King had met in August with members of an Austrian political party founded by former Nazis, during a trip funded by a group that promotes awareness of the Holocaust.
The congressman dismissed such criticism as âfake news.â The Des Moines Register reported Tuesday that it had been barred from Kingâs election night event.
Kingâs Democratic challenger walked a fine line between capitalizing on the modest backlash against King and alienating voters in the deep-red district, where voters in 2016 favored Trump to Hillary Clinton roughly 2-to-1.
Scholten, 38, is a former minor league pitcher and paralegal. He ran as an outsider and a populist. He landed the endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), as we ll as that of the Sioux City Journal, which has favored King in the past.
âThe average person in Congress is 58 years old, with a net worth of $1 million,â Scholten said in an ad from earlier this year. âWell, Iâm different. Iâm 20 years younger and just shy of $1 million short of that average.â
He dared viewers, âTell me this race is unwinnable.â
Polls are beginning to close around the country after voters made their final choices on candidates for House, Senate and many races down the ballot. Lots of Americans voted early, bringing multiple states past their 2014 early ballot levels. President Trump hit multiple states to make his closi ng argument, and former president Barack Obama and other Democrats did the same for their side.
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