Leonard Boswell
| Leonard Boswell | ||
 | ||
| U.S. House, Iowa, District 3 | ||
| Retired Representative | ||
| In office | ||
| January 3, 1997-2013 | ||
| Party | Democratic | |
| Elections and appointments | ||
| Last election | November 6, 2012 | |
| First elected | November 5, 1996 | |
| Term limits | N/A | |
| Prior offices | ||
| Iowa State Senate | ||
| 1984-1996 | ||
| Education | ||
| High school | Lamoni High School | |
| Bachelor's | Graceland College | |
| Military service | ||
| Service/branch | U.S. Army | |
| Years of service | 1956-1976 | |
| Personal | ||
| Birthday | Janurary 10, 1934 | |
| Place of birth | Harrison County, Missouri | |
| Profession | Farmer | |
| Religion | Community of Christ | |
| Websites | ||
| Office website | ||
| Campaign website | ||
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Contents |
Leonard L. Boswell (b. October 30, 1957) was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing Iowa's 3rd congressional district. Boswell was first elected to the House in 1996. Bowell ran for re-election in 2012 and ran unopposed in the Democratic primary on June 5, 2012. He lost to Republican incumbent from the 4th district Tom Latham in the general election on November 6, 2012.[1]
Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by GovTrack, Boswell was a "centrist Democrat".[2]
Biography
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Boswell was born in 1934 in Harrison County, Missouri, and was raised in Lamoni, Iowa, where he also attended high school. He earned his B.A. from Graceland College in 1969 and served in the U.S. Army from 1956-1976.[3]
Career
Below is an abbreviated outline of Boswell's professional and political career[3]:
- 1997-2013: U.S. House of Representatives, Iowa's 3rd congressional district
- 1979-1993: Board of Directors of the Local Farmer’s Cooperative
- 1984-1996: Iowa State Senate
- 1956-1976: U.S. Army
Prior to his political career, Boswell worked as a farmer.
Committee assignments
U.S. House of Representatives
2011-2012
Boswell served on the following House committees:[4]
- Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
- Subcommittee on Aviation
- Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
- Agriculture Committee
- Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management Ranking Member
Issues
Specific votes
Fiscal Cliff
Boswell voted for the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. He was one of 172 Democrats that voted in favor of the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257/167 vote on January 1, 2013.[5]
Elections
2012
Boswell ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. House, representing Iowa's 3rd District. Boswell won the nomination for re-election on the Democratic ticket.[6] Because of redistricting, Boswell faced 4th district Republican incumbent Tom Latham in the general election, and lost. Boswell ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. Latham ran unopposed in the Republican primary. Candidates wishing to run were required to file by the signature filing deadline of March 16, 2012. The primary elections took place on June 5, 2012. Boswell was considered one the vulnerable incumbents.[7]
Results
| U.S. House, Iowa, District 3 General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Leonard Boswell Incumbent | 43.7% | 168,632 | |
| Republican |  Tom Latham |
52.3% | 202,000 | |
| Independent | David Rosenfeld | 1.6% | 6,286 | |
| Independent | Scott G. Batcher | 2.4% | 9,352 | |
| Total Votes | 386,270 | |||
| Source: Iowa Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Race Background
Boswell's general election opponent is 4th district incumbent Tom Latham. Latham moved to Clive to face Leonard Boswell in the 3rd district after his previous home in Ames was drawn into the same district as Steve King during redistricting when King's 5th district became obsolete.[8]
Boswell is an eight-term incumbent and Tom Latham is a nine-term incumbent.[9] This race was declared competitive in the New York Times race ratings in July 2012.[10]
Campaign themes
The issues below are outlined at Boswell's campaign website.
- Agriculture
Excerpt: "We must keep Iowa's farmers fueling America and feeding the world."[11]
- Education
Excerpt: "Boswell also understands that No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is not working for many students, schools, and communities. Boswell strongly supports making substantial changes to elementary and secondary education policies in order to address the problems faced under NCLB, provide schools with the resources they need to succeed, and improve our children’s education."[12]
- Healthcare
Excerpt: "Every American deserves access to affordable, quality healthcare."[13]
- Law Enforcement
Excerpt: "Law enforcement officers fight every day to protect our communities and Congressman Leonard Boswell has carried that fight to Washington to ensure that law enforcement has the resources they need to successfully protect and serve Iowans."[14]
- Economy
Excerpt: "Boswell will continue to fight for regulatory reform that ends taxpayer-funded bailouts, protects families’ investments and small businesses’ financial futures, ends predatory lending practices and “too big to fail firms,” and injects transparency and accountability into the financial system."[15]
Opponent targeted
Boswell's Republican opponent, Rep. Tom Latham, has been targeted by the Super PAC House Majority PAC.[16] Latham has a 4-1 campaign funding advantage over Boswell, but the Democratic-allied PAC has spent about $400,000 on defeating Latham, primarily through TV ads.[17][18]
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2010
On November 2, 2010, Boswell won re-election to the United States House of Representatives. He defeated Brad Zaun (R), Rebecca Williamson (Socialist Workers), and the write-in candidates in the general election.[19]
| U.S. House of Representatives, Iowa's 3rd Congressional District, General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Leonard Boswell Incumbent |
50.7% | 122,147 | |
| Republican | Brad Zaun | 46.5% | 111,925 | |
| Socialist Workers | Rebecca Williamson | 2.6% | 6,258 | |
| Write-in | 0.2% | 426 | ||
| Total Votes | 240,756 | |||
Campaign donors
2012
Boswell lost election to the U.S. House in 2012. During that election cycle, Boswell's campaign committee raised a total of $1,747,776 and spent $1,766,439.[20]
| U.S. House, Iowa, District 3, 2012 - Leonard Boswell Campaign Contributions | |
|---|---|
| Total Raised | $1,747,776 |
| Total Spent | $1,766,439 |
| Total Raised by Election Winner | $3,408,822 |
| Total Spent by Election Winner | $3,882,304 |
| Top contributors to Leonard Boswell's campaign committee | |
| Knapp Properties | $15,400 |
| PAC to the Future | $15,000 |
| Principal Financial Group | $14,450 |
| National Educatoin Assn | $10,500 |
| Air Line Pilots Assn | $10,000 |
| Top 5 industries that contributed to campaign committee | |
| Leadership PACs | $205,750 |
| Lawyers/Law Firms | $90,995 |
| Candidate Committees | $77,500 |
| Health Professionals | $73,500 |
| Retired | $72,290 |
As of July 11, 2012, Boswell raised $300,000 in the second quarter and at the end of the cycle had $470,000 cash-on-hand.[21]
On October 15, 2012, quarterly reports were submitted by campaigns to the Federal Election Commission. The political blog Daily Kos did an analysis of the fundraising figures and found Republican incumbent Tom Latham outraised Democratic incumbent Leonard Boswell in the third quarter. Latham raised $487,000 and has $1,510,000 in cash-on-hand while Boswell raised $300,000 and has $226,000 in cash-on-hand.[22]
2010
Boswell won re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010. During that re-election cycle, Boswell's campaign committee raised a total of $2,098,471 and spent $2,357,364.[23]
| U.S. House of Representatives, Iowa's 3rd Congressional District, 2010 - Leonard Boswell Campaign Contributions | |
|---|---|
| Total Raised | $1,519,582 |
| Total Spent | $1,556,855 |
| Total Raised by General Election Opponent | $682,761 |
| Total Spent by General Election Opponent | $681,870 |
| Top contributors to Leonard Boswell's campaign committee | |
| Knapp Properties | $16,600 |
| Principal Financial Group | $15,400 |
| National Auto Dealers Assn | $13,000 |
| American Assn of Crop Insurers | $11,000 |
| Rain & Hail Insurance Society | $11,000 |
| Top 5 industries that contributed to campaign committee | |
| Leadership PACs | $116,300 |
| Lawyers/Law Firms | $80,000 |
| Transportation Unions | $76,000 |
| Agricultural Services/Products | $74,250 |
| Air Transport | $70,500 |
Analysis
Congressional staff salaries
The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Boswell paid his congressional staff a total of $1,125,927 in 2011. He ranked 37th on the list of the highest paid Democratic Representative Staff Salaries and he ranked 45th overall of the highest paid Representative Staff Salaries in 2011. Overall, Iowa ranked 16th in average salary for representative staff. The average U.S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.[24]
Staff bonuses
According to an analysis by CNN, Boswell is one of nearly 25% of House members who gave their staff bonuses in 2012. Boswell's staff was given an apparent $33,500.00 in bonus money.[25]
Net worth
Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Boswell's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $650,003 and $1,484,999. That averages to $1,067,501, which was lower than the average net worth of Democratic Representatives in 2010 of $4,465,875.[26]
National Journal vote ratings
2011
- See also: National Journal vote ratings
Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of congress voted in the previous year. Boswell ranked 166th in the liberal rankings.[27]
Political Positions
Percentage voting with party
November 2011
The website Open Congress tracks how often members of Congress vote with the majority of the chamber caucus. According to the website, Leonard Boswell voted with the Democratic Party 85.5% of the time, which ranked 167 among the 192 House Democratic members in November 2011.[28]
Recent news
This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term Leonard + Boswell + Iowa + House
- All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.
Leonard Boswell News Feed
- GOP draws Red Zone over 7 House Dem seats - Politico
- Harkin endorses Braley for US Senate - The Gazette: Eastern Iowa Breaking News and Headlines
- House Fundraising Winners and Losers - National Journal (blog)
- Iowa Democratic Party announces 2013 Hall of Fame award winners - Centerville Daily Iowegian
- 2014 Plotlines Appear in Latest Fundraising Reports - The Iowa Republican
- New to Bucks, Strouse Prepares Challenge to Fitz - PoliticsPA
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Personal
Boswell and his wife, Dody, have three children and four grandchildren.[29]
External links
- Social media:
- Biographies:
- Political profiles:
- Financial:
- Interest group ratings:
- Issue positions:
- Public statements:
- Voting record:
- Media appearances:
- Media coverage:
References
- ↑ Politico "2012 House Race Results"
- ↑ Gov Track "Boswell" Accessed May 22, 2012
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Biographical Guide to Members of Congress "Leonard L. Boswell" Accessed November 5, 2011
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "House of Representatives Committee Assignments" Accessed November 5, 2011
- ↑ U.S. House "Roll Call Vote on the Fiscal Cliff" Accessed January 4, 2013.
- ↑ WhoTV.com "POSITIVE OUTLOOK: Boswell said he feels confident about his chances" Accessed December 16, 2011
- ↑ New York Times"House Race Ratings" Accessed October 3
- ↑ Des Moines Register "Filing deadline makes official big battles in Iowa's 3rd, 4th districts" Accessed March 19, 2012
- ↑ NPR "It's Incumbent vs. Incumbent, and Washington is Watching"
- ↑ New York Times "House Race Ratings," Accessed July 25, 2012
- ↑ Leonard Boswell "Issues," October 11, 2012
- ↑ Leonard Boswell "Issues," October 11, 2012
- ↑ Leonard Boswell "Issues," October 11, 2012
- ↑ Leonard Boswell "Issues," October 11, 2012
- ↑ Leonard Boswell "Issues," October 11, 2012
- ↑ Open Secrets "House Majority PAC Independent Expenditures," Accessed May 4, 2012
- ↑ Bloomberg "Super-PACs Ramp Up Spending on Races Where Control of Congress Is at Stake," March 8, 2012
- ↑ House Majority PAC "Our Ads," Accessed May 4, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010" Accessed November 5, 2011
- ↑ OpenSecrets "2012 Election" Accessed March 23, 2013
- ↑ Twitter "Roll Call" Accessed July 12, 2012
- ↑ Daily Kos "Third quarter House fundraising: who's got the cash?" October 18, 2012
- ↑ Open Secrets "Bruce Braley 2010 Election Cycle," Accessed November 5, 2011
- ↑ LegiStorm "Leonard Boswell"
- ↑ CNN Politics, "Congressional bonuses in a time of cuts," March 8, 2013
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Boswell, (D-Iowa), 2010"
- ↑ National Journal, "Searchable Vote Ratings Tables: House," February 23, 2012
- ↑ Open Congress "Voting With Party"
- ↑ Official House Site "Biography," Accessed November 5, 2011
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jim Lightfoot |
U.S. House of Representatives - Iowa, District 3 1997–2013 |
Succeeded by Tom Latham |
| Preceded by ' |
Iowa State Senate 1984-1996 |
Succeeded by ' |
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