Be the Poll - Vernon joins the 1st District congressional race

So, as expected, all the leaning and considering has turned into a real campaign. Cedar Rapids City Council member Monica Vernon is running for Congress as a Democrat. 

So now, on the D-side, in the 1st District of Iowa, in 2014, we have Vernon and state Rep. Pat Murphy of Dubuque who are in, and former state Sen. Swati Dandekar, who represented Marion before taking a seat on the Iowa Utilities Board at the request of Gov. Terry Branstad. That move put Democrats' Senate majority in jeopardy, but nobody remembers that.

Democratic Blogger John Deeth?

So Vernon leads Murphy and sharp eye sticks in very early small-sample polling. Encouraging for her camp, I'm sure.

But then there's the only poll that really matters. And that's Facebook page likes and Twitter follows.

As of 2:45 p.m., Vernon has 515 Facebook likes and 65 Twitter followers. Dandekar's exploratory committee trails with just 8 likes and 23 followers. Pat Murphy has a personal Facebook page but I can't find any campaign page. He has 132 Twitter followers.

But these numbers may be meaningless. Instead, we should be doing some serious online polling. Much more meaningful.

And Republicans, I'm not forgetting about you. Cedar Rapids businessman Steve Rathje and Rod Blum of Dubuque are running, while House Speaker Kraig Paulsen of Hiawatha is seriously considering.

To the polls.

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