After deflecting questions about her plans for months, former state Sen. Swati Dandekar is taking the first steps toward running for an open U.S. House seat in northeast Iowa. The Marion Democrat confirmed today supporters are forming an exploratory committee and she will decide before fall whether she will run for the 1st District seat [...]

DES MOINES — U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, will not seek the Republican nomination for retiring U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin’s seat. In an e-mail to supporters Friday night, King, who represents the 4th district, wrote that he did his “due diligence … from a statewide, objective perspective” and determined he needed to stay in Congress. [...]

Even as the field of potential Republican candidates for a 2014 open-seat Senate race dwindles, Iowa GOP Chairman A.J. Spiker says there’s no pressure on the leading contender to make a decision. “It’s his decision and I’m not going to push anyone on a timetable,” Spiker said when asked if the party had given 4th [...]

Iowa Ag Secretary Bill Northey will not run for the U.S. Senate in 2014, he said Thursday morning. “After talking with my family and thoughtful consideration,” Northey said he decided to forgo the open-seat Senate race and continue in his current role. “I feel at this time I can be more effective serving Iowans as [...]

Gov. Terry Branstad’s political shot at U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Waterloo, may have inadvertently winged GOP ally, U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Kiron, as well. The five-term GOP governor told reporters at his weekly news conference Monday that he was confident Iowa Republicans are going to find “a really good candidate” to seek the U.S. Senate [...]

  U.S. Rep. Steve King plans to be on the ballot in 2014, but hasn’t decided whether he’ll be seeking re-election or an open U.S. Senate seat. “I wish I knew the answer,” the western Iowa Republican said Thursday morning. “When I make up my mind, when I come to that conclusion, I will be [...]

Before she ran for the Iowa Senate, Kim Reynolds talked it over with her family. They were against it. “So I got up the next morning and I said, ‘I’m going to do it,’” she told the Conservative Breakfast Club in Des Moines Tuesday morning, adding quickly, “Now this doesn’t mean anything about this race.” [...]

U.S. Senate hopeful Rep. Bruce Braley has raised $1.07 million and has more than $1 million cash on hand, according to his campaign. Most of that — nearly $857,000 — came from his 2014 Senate committee, according to a campaign report the Braley for Iowa campaign committee will file with the Federal Election Commission. Also, [...]

Don’t scratch Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds’ name from the Republican list of possible candidates for Iowa’s U.S. Senate race in 2014, regardless of what GOP operative Doug Gross might say. Gross — a former top aide to Gov. Terry Branstad, party leader and candidate for governor in 2002 – expressed skepticism to a statewide television [...]

Forget the obvious choices. The Iowa Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2014 won’t be Rep. Steve King, Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds or state Secretary of Ag Bill Northey, according to a top Iowa GOP operative. Doug Gross, a former top aide to Gov. Terry Branstad, party leader and candidate for governor in 2002, [...]