Rod Blum

Rod Blum (2015)

Rodney Leland "Rod" Blum (* 26. April 1955 in Dubuque , Iowa ) is an American politician of the Republican Party . From 2015 to 2019, he represented the 1st Congressional Constituency of the State of Iowa in the United States House of Representatives .

Career

In 1973, Rod Blum graduated from Dubuque Senior High School . He then studied at the local Loras College until 1977 and then at the University of Dubuque until 1989. His subjects were finance and business administration. Between 1990 and 2000 he was head of Eagle Point Software . Since 2000 he has owned another software company called Digital Canal .

In the 2014 election , Blum ran for the 1st congressional electoral district of Iowa, which includes the northeast of the state. He prevailed with 51 to 49 percent of the vote against the Democrat Pat Murphy and succeeded the Democrat Bruce Braley , who had run unsuccessfully for the US Senate , on January 3, 2015 in the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC . In the election in 2016 he was confirmed and belonged to the 115th Congress of the United States at that existed to January 3 of 2019.

In the 2018 election , his seat was considered one of the most vulnerable for a Republican mandate holder. His challenger was the previous MP Abby Finkenauer . In early September 2018, forecasters Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia and the Cook Political Report changed their forecast from being completely open to being inclined towards the Democrats. In fact, on November 6, just under 51 percent of the voters voted for Finkenauer, while only just under 46 percent voted for Blum, who thus left the congress. An ethics investigation by the House of Representatives was conducted against Blum because he had not disclosed his stake in a company as required. When he left Congress, this investigation came to an end. While Blum received campaign support from Vice President Mike Pence , Finkenauer received such support from his predecessor Joe Biden .

Blum was a member of the Committees on Supervision and Reform and Small Businesses in Congress and chaired the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy and Trade. The supporter of Trump is close to the tea party movement and belonged to the right-wing conservative Freedom Caucus .

Web links

• Rod Blum in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Web presence at the Congress (English)
• Blum, Rod. In: Our Campaigns (English)

supporting documents

1. ^ Rod Blum wins 1st Congressional District race. In: Des Moines Register , November 5, 2014.
2. ↑ Election result 2018
3. ↑ Barbara Rodriguez: Analysts predict Rep. Rod Blum's 1st District race shifting toward Democratic pick-up. In: Des Moines Register , September 6, 2018.
4. ↑ Katherine Tully-McManus: Ethics Office Report Released on Lame Duck Rod Blum. In: Roll Call , December 17, 2018
5. ^ Molly Nagle: Iowa's 1st Congressional District: Young Democrat takes aim at Freedom Caucus member. In: ABC News , August 1, 2018.
6. ↑ Elaine Godfrey: The Fight for Iowa's White Working-Class Soul. In: The Atlantic , July 29, 2018; Molly Nagle: Iowa's 1st Congressional District: Young Democrat takes aim at Freedom Caucus member. In: ABC News , August 1, 2018.