(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch
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Democrat Ryan Melton announces another bid for 4th Congressional District [1]
['Robin Opsahl', 'More From Author', '- July']
Date: 2023-07-05
Democrat Ryan Melton says he plans to seek a rematch in 2024 against U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra for Iowa’s 4th District seat in the U.S. House.
Melton, who announced his run Tuesday, told the Iowa Capital Dispatch that he believes that his campaign will do better in 2024 than it did in 2022. He lost with 30.4% of the vote to Feenstra, who had 67.4%.
When Melton ran in 2022, he entered the race late and chose to run to ensure there was a Democrat on the ballot, he said. This year, he is starting earlier and plans to build on the groundwork laid during the last election cycle, he said.
“Hopefully with a normal length campaign and some name recognition and some infrastructure built the second time around, hopefully we’ll be able to expand our outreach to voters we didn’t get to reach the first time,” Melton said. “So we anticipate we’ll continue to talk to independents, Republicans, Libertarians, as well as Democrats, that when they get to know me will see that they can trust me and that I’m capable and that I’m someone that they can put their faith in.”
Iowa’s 4th District has historically been the most conservative congressional district in the state. Melton said he planned to continue reaching across party lines to appeal to conservative voters who do not support the direction of the party, and who want to vote for someone who isn’t funded by corporate political action committees.
Melton raised just over $53,000 in the 2022 election cycle, compared to the $2.8 million raised by Feenstra, according to Open Secrets.
Feenstra has not yet announced plans to run for a third term in office. He was first elected in 2021, after he defeated former U.S. Rep. Steve King in the 2020 Republican primary. The congressman could not be reached for comment on his 2024 plans.
While Feenstra won by more than 60% in both the 2020 and 2022 general elections, Melton said he believes there’s more room for Democratic successes in the 4th District than some Iowans believe.
“We started from literally square zero and ended up earning more votes than 70% of the roughly 120 major party U.S. House candidates in general elections who raise $75,000 or less,” Melton said. “We ended up earning more votes in the district than our gubernatorial candidate … so considering all of that, we’re really proud of what we accomplished.”
In a social media post announcing his run, the Democrat said he chose to run in 2022 because he felt democracy was at risk. He’s running again because “our democracy is under even more threat,” Melton wrote.
“The representative of anti-democracy, Donald Trump, is again at the head of the pack for the Republican nomination, and Congressional Republicans have doubled down on their support for him,” Melton wrote, noting Feenstra has not commented on the former president’s court cases.
In the lead-up to the election, Melton said he would be focused on fundraising, as well as specifically reaching out to young voters and communities of color in northwest Iowa.
“We’re gonna have more bandwidth, more time and more experience,” Melton said. “We learned a whole lot the first go, and so I think we’re gonna be able to leverage all of those things and increase our outreach for sure.”
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[1] Url:
https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2023/07/05/democrat-ryan-melton-announces-another-bid-for-4th-congressional-district/
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