Tom Latham

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Tom Latham
Tom Latham.jpg
U.S. House, Iowa, District 3
Incumbent
In office
January 3, 1995-Present
Term ends
January 3, 2015
Years in position 18
PartyRepublican
PredecessorLeonard Boswell (D)
Compensation
Base salary$174,000/year
Elections and appointments
Last electionNovember 6, 2012
First electedNovember 8, 1994
Next electionNovember 4, 2014
Campaign $$10,467,938
Term limitsN/A
Education
Bachelor'sIowa State University
Associate'sCal Community College, Latimer, Iowa
Personal
BirthdayJuly 14, 1948
Place of birthHampton, Iowa
ProfessionBusiness Owner
Net worth$4,982,671
ReligionLutheran
Websites
Office website
Campaign website
Tom Latham campaign logo

Contents

Thomas "Tom" Latham (b. July 14, 1948) is a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing Iowa's 3rd congressional district. Latham was first elected to the House in 1994. He ran for re-election in 2012 in District 3 due to redistricting. Latham ran unopposed in the Republican primary on June 5, 2012, and won the general election on November 6, 2012.[1]

Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by GovTrack, Latham is a "rank-and-file Republican".[2]

Biography

Latham was born in 1948 in Hampton, Iowa, and raised in Alexander, Iowa. He earned his Associates Degree from Cal Community College in 1966 and his B.A. from Iowa State University in 1970. Prior to his political career, Latham was a business owner.[3]

Career

  • U.S. House of Representatives, 4th Congressional District of Iowa, 1994-Present

Committee assignments

U.S. House

2013-2014

Latham serves on the following committees:[4]

  • Appropriations Committee
    • Subcommittee on Agriculture and Rural Development
    • Subcommittee on Homeland Security
    • Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Chairman

2011-2012

Latham served on the following House committees[5]:

  • Appropriations Committee
    • Subcommittee on Agriculture
    • Subcommittee on Homeland Security
    • Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Chairman

Issues

Specific votes

Fiscal Cliff

Voted "No" Latham voted against 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 151 Republicans that voted against the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257/167 vote on January 1, 2013.[6]

Elections

2014

See also: United States Senate elections in Iowa, 2014

Gov. Branstad indicates preference for Republican nominee

Gov. Terry Branstad spoke of his preference for Latham to be the Republican nominee for Iowa's Senate seat.[7] Branstad said he believes Latham would be more electable statewide than fellow Rep. Steve King, who is also considering a run for the seat opened up by Harkin's retirement.[7]

Branstad also made it clear that he expects the two candidates to decide who will be running for the seat without a primary battle. “We’re not going to have a primary, and I’m going to support both of my congressmen. I just think that Latham would be the strongest candidate for the Senate at this time, and I feel confident that he would be a great vote-getter in our state.”[7]

Despite his preference for the strongest Republican nominee, Branstad has praised both candidates. He even suggested that he might support Steve King if Sen. Chuck Grassley (R) retires in 2016 and he makes a run for his seat.[7]

Branstad summed up the situation, stating “I’ve encouraged them to talk to each other, make the decision, but I would hope that and someday I’d love to see them both in the U.S. Senate, but I think Tom Latham would be the most experienced and the strongest candidate at this time.”[7]

Latham announces he will not run

Less than a week following Gov. Terry Branstad's announcement that he would prefer Latham as the Republican nominee, he announced he would be not be running in 2014.[8]

On February 27, Latham sent an email to his supporters announcing that he would not be running for the Iowa Senate seat.[8]

In the message he stated, "However, only 56 days ago I took an oath to 'faithfully discharge the duties' of an office with which the people of Iowa's Third Congressional District entrusted to me. I cannot in good conscience launch a two-year statewide campaign that will detract from the commitment I made to the people who elected me, at a time when our nation desperately needs less campaigning and more leadership."[8]

His decision not to run, many argue, could hurt Republicans' chances of winning the open seat.[8] His place within the party, association with United States Speaker of the House John Boehner, and early poll indications all pointed to him as a formidable nominee for the Republican party.[8]

2012

See also: Iowa's 3rd congressional district elections, 2012

Latham ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. House, representing Iowa's 3rd District. Latham won the nomination on the Republican ticket.[9][10] Incumbent Leonard 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.

Results

U.S. House, Iowa, District 3 General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Leonard Boswell Incumbent 43.7% 168,632
     Republican Green check mark.jpgTom 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

Latham moved to Clive to take on 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.[11]

Tom Latham is an eight-term incumbent facing Leonard Boswell, a nine-term incumbent, in the general election on Nov. 6 2012.[12] This race was declared competitive in the New York Times race ratings in July 2012.[13]

Targeted

Latham has been targeted by the Super PAC House Majority PAC.[14] The Democratic-allied PAC has spent about $400,000 on defeating Latham, primarily through TV ads.[15][16]


"House Majority PAC ad against Tom Latham: 'Valentine's Day'"


"House Majority PAC ad against Tom Latham: 'Headlines'"


"House Majority PAC ad against Tom Latham: 'Bad Idea'"

Full history


Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Latham is available dating back to 2000. Based on available campaign finance records, Latham raised a total of $10,467,938 during that time period. This information was last updated on April 7, 2013.[26]

Tom Latham's Campaign Contribution History
Year Office Result Contributions
2012 U.S. House (Iowa, District 3) Won $3,408,821
2010 U.S. House (Iowa, District 4) Won $1,329,211
2008 U.S. House (Iowa, District 4) Won $1,573,136
2006 U.S. House (Iowa, District 4) Won $1,131,896
2004 U.S. House (Iowa, District 4) Won $1,074,673
2002 U.S. House (Iowa, District 4) Won $1,461,019
2000 U.S. House (Iowa, District 5) Won $489,182
Grand Total Raised $10,467,938

2012

Breakdown of the source of Latham's campaign funds before the 2012 election.

Latham won re-election to the U.S. House in 2012. During that election cycle, Latham's campaign committee raised a total of $3,408,821 and spent $3,882,303.[27]

2010

Breakdown of the source of Latham's campaign funds before the 2010 election.

Latham won re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010. During that re-election cycle, Latham's campaign committee raised a total of $1,329,211 and spent $806,642.[28]

Analysis

Lifetime voting record

See also: Lifetime voting records of United States Senators and Representatives

According to the website GovTrack, Latham missed 112 of 12,398 roll call votes from Jan 1995 to Mar 2013. This amounts to 0.9%, which is better than the median of 2.2% among current congressional representatives as of March 2013.[29]

Congressional staff salaries

See also: Staff salaries of United States Senators and Representatives

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Latham paid his congressional staff a total of $810,563 in 2011. He ranked 55th on the list of the lowest paid Republican Representative Staff Salaries and he ranked 62nd overall of the lowest 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.[30]

Net worth

See also: Net Worth of United States Senators and Representatives

2011

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Yoho's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $2,315,175 and $7,650,167. That averages to $4,982,671, which is lower than the average net worth of Republican Representatives in 2011 of $7,859,232. His average net worth decreased by 0.85% from 2010.[31]

2010

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Latham's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $2,297,428 and $7,753,415. That averages to $5,025,421.50, which was lower than the average net worth of Republican Representatives in 2010 of $7,561,133.[32]

National Journal vote ratings

See also: National Journal vote ratings

2012

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of congress voted in the previous year. Latham ranked 134th in the conservative rankings in 2012.[33]

2011

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of congress voted in the previous year. Latham ranked 164th in the conservative rankings.[34]

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, Tom Latham voted with the Republican Party 92.3% of the time, which ranked 127 among the 242 House Republican members in November 2011.[35]

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term Tom + Latham + Iowa + House

All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.

Tom Latham News Feed


Cite error: <ref> tags exist, but no <references/> tag was found


Personal

Latham and his wife have three grown children and four grandchildren.[36]

External links


References

  1. ↑ Politico "2012 House Race Results"
  2. ↑ Gov Track "Latham" Accessed May 25, 2012
  3. ↑ Biographical Guide to Members of Congress "Tom Latham" Accessed November 5, 2011
  4. ↑ CQ.com, "House Committee Rosters for the 113th Congress"
  5. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "House of Representatives Committee Assignments" Accessed November 5, 2011
  6. ↑ U.S. House "Roll Call Vote on the Fiscal Cliff" Accessed January 4, 2013.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Politico "Terry Branstad prefers Tom Latham for Senate race" Accessed February 25, 2013
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 The Hill "Rep. Latham won't run for Senate" Accessed February 28, 2013
  9. ↑ WhoTV.com "POSITIVE OUTLOOK: Boswell said he feels confident about his chances" Accessed December 16, 2011
  10. ↑ The Washington Post "Tom Latham to run in Iowa’s 3rd district" Accessed December 16, 2011
  11. ↑ Des Moines Register "Filing deadline makes official big battles in Iowa's 3rd, 4th districts" Accessed March 19, 2012
  12. ↑ NPR "It's Incumbent vs. Incumbent, and Washington is Watching"
  13. ↑ New York Times "House Race Ratings," Accessed July 25, 2012
  14. ↑ Open Secrets "House Majority PAC Independent Expenditures," Accessed May 4, 2012
  15. ↑ Bloomberg "Super-PACs Ramp Up Spending on Races Where Control of Congress Is at Stake," March 8, 2012
  16. ↑ House Majority PAC "Our Ads," Accessed May 4, 2012
  17. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010"
  18. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 2008"
  19. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 7, 2006"
  20. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2004"
  21. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 5, 2002"
  22. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 7, 2000"
  23. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 3, 1998"
  24. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 5, 1996"
  25. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 8, 1994"
  26. ↑ Open Secrets "Tom Latham" Accessed April 7, 2013
  27. ↑ http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00004227&cycle=2012 Open Secrets "Tom Latham 2012 Election Cycle," Accessed February 20, 2013]
  28. ↑ Open Secrets "Bruce Braley 2010 Election Cycle," Accessed November 5, 2011
  29. ↑ GovTrack, "Tom Latham," Accessed April 1, 2013
  30. ↑ LegiStorm "Tom Latham"
  31. ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Latham (R-Iowa), 2011"
  32. ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Latham, (R-Iowa), 2010"
  33. ↑ National Journal, "2012 Congressional Vote Ratings," February 28, 2013
  34. ↑ National Journal, "Searchable Vote Ratings Tables: House," February 23, 2012
  35. ↑ Open Congress "Voting With Party"
  36. ↑ Official House Site "Biography," Accessed November 5, 2011
Political offices
Preceded by
Leonard Boswell 		U.S. House of Representatives - Iowa District 3
2013-Present 		Succeeded by
-
Preceded by
Fred Grandy 		U.S. House of Representatives - Iowa District 4
1995–2013 		Succeeded by
Steve King
v • d • e
Iowa's current delegation to the United States Congress
SenatorsCongressLogo.png
Representatives
Bruce Braley (D) • Dave Loebsack (D) • Steve King (R) • Tom Latham (R)
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