Prior to the 2012 elections,
Republican Representative
Tom Latham and
Democratic Representative
Leonard Boswell were redistricted into the same district. Though
Barack Obama carried the district in the
2012 presidential election, Latham defeated Boswell. Latham planned to retire in 2014.
Republican primary Candidates Nominee •
David Young, former chief of staff to Senator
Chuck Grassley and former candidate for the U.S. Senate
Eliminated in primary • Robert Cramer, bridge construction contractor and chairman of the board of
The Family Leader • Joe Grandanette, teacher and business owner •
Matt Schultz,
Iowa Secretary of State • Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association •
Brad Zaun, state senator and nominee in
2010 Declined • Jeff Ballenger, businessman and candidate for
IA-05 in 2002 •
Jake Chapman, state senator •
Peter Cownie, state representative • David Fischer, vice-chair of the
Republican Party of Iowa • Steve Gaer, mayor of
West Des Moines •
Mary Ann Hanusa, state representative • Mark Jacobs, former CEO of
Reliant Energy (running for the U.S. Senate) • Isaiah McGee,
Waukee city councilman • David Oman, businessman and candidate for governor in
1998 •
Kim Reynolds,
lieutenant governor of Iowa •
Charles Schneider, state senator •
Brent Siegrist, former Speaker of the
Iowa House of Representatives •
Matt Strawn, former chairman of the
Republican Party of Iowa •
Rob Taylor, state representative
Endorsements Polling Results Convention The Republican nomination was decided by a convention after none of the six candidates reached the 35 percent threshold required to make the general election ballot. This was the second time in 50 years that a convention picked a nominee and the first time since 2002, when then-State Senator
Steve King won a convention held in
Iowa's 5th congressional district to decide the Republican nominee for Congress. A poll conducted by the conservative website Caffeinated Thoughts of 118 of the 513 delegates was held on June 9–10. David Young and Brad Zaun took 27% each, with Robert Cramer on 19%, Monte Shaw on 14%, Matt Schultz on 8% and Joe Grandanette on 3% with another 3% undecided. 34% chose Young as their second choice, with 17% choosing Cramer, Schultz or Zaun, 10% picking Shaw and 3% picking Grandanette with 8% undecided. On June 21, in what was described as a "stunning upset", David Young won the nomination on the fifth ballot of the convention. On July 4, Zaun voiced his disappointment and suggested he would leave the Republican Party, leading some to encourage him to run for the seat as an independent. He had previously announced that he would introduce legislation to hold primary runoff elections instead of conventions. On July 10, Zaun announced that despite his frustrations, he would not leave the Republican Party or run as an independent.
Democratic primary Candidates Nominee •
Staci Appel, former state senator
Withdrawn • Gabriel De La Cerda, former tire factory worker • Michael Sherzan, businessman
Declined •
Leonard Boswell, former U.S. representative • Scott Brennan, chairman of the
Iowa Democratic Party •
Ed Fallon, former state representative, candidate for governor
in 2006 and candidate for the seat
in 2008 • Tom Henderson, attorney and chairman of the
Polk County Democratic Party •
Matt McCoy, state senator • Andy McGuire, health insurance executive and candidate for
Lieutenant Governor of Iowa in
2006 • Dusky Terry, mayor of
Earlham and candidate for
Iowa Attorney General in 2006 •
Tom Vilsack,
United States Secretary of Agriculture and former governor of Iowa
Results General election Debate Endorsements Polling Predictions Results ==District 4==