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Finkenauer defeats Blum, wins First Congressional District seat

FILE - In this Tuesday, May 2, 2017, file photo, Iowa state Rep. Abby Finkenauer poses in Dubuque, Iowa. Finkenauer faces incumbent GOP Rep. Rod Blum in the Nov. 6 election. (Nicki Kohl/Telegraph Herald via AP, File)

A seat that had been shaded red for four years has returned to blue as Democrat Abby Finkenauer defeated incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Rod Blum to represent Iowa’s First Congressional District.

“Tonight, we as Iowans made clear who we are. Tonight, Iowa rejected fear and division, and tonight, Iowa proved we step up for our neighbors. I truly believe hope is the reason we got this far — and hope is the reason we still have work to do,” FInkenauer wrote in a tweet late Tuesday after her victory was projected.

The race was pegged as a competitive one throughout the 2018 election season and Finkenauer held solid leads in polling leading up to Tuesday’s election.

The 29-year-old two-term state Representative from Dubuque ran on improving access to health care and representing working families in Iowa, among other platform issues. She is among the youngest people voted to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Blum won the First District seat in 2014 after former U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, a Democrat, left the post and ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate. Blum won his second term in 2016.

The First District has swung back and forth along the political spectrum over the last decade. Voters favored former Democratic President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 but switched to Republican President Donald Trump in 2016.

The district covers northeastern and parts of east-central Iowa, including the cities of Marshalltown, Dubuque, Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls and Waterloo.

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Contact Adam Sodders at (641) 753-6611 or asodders@timesrepublican.com

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