Dave Loebsack
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromIowa's2nd district
In office January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2021
Preceded by	Jim Leach
Succeeded by	Mariannette Miller-Meeks
Personal details
Born	David Wayne Loebsack (1952-12-23)December 23, 1952 (age 72) Sioux City, Iowa, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Terry Loebsack
Children	4
Education	Iowa State University (BA,MA) University of California, Davis (PhD)
Dave Loebsack's voice Loebsack honors retiring staffer Virginia Stratton Recorded December 6, 2016

David Wayne Loebsack (/ˈloʊbˌsæk/; born December 23, 1952) is an American politician who served as theU.S. representative forIowa's 2nd congressional district from 2007 to 2021. A member of theDemocratic Party, he also is anemeritus professor ofpolitical science atCornell College,^[1] where he had taught since 1982. On April 12, 2019, Loebsack announced he would not seek reelection.^[2]

• Committee on Armed Services^[3]
  • Subcommittee on Military Personnel
  • Subcommittee on Readiness
• Committee on Education and the Workforce^[3]
  • Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training
  • Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions

• Congressional Cement Caucus
• Congressional Progressive Caucus^[4]
• Congressional Arts Caucus^[5]
• Afterschool Caucuses^[6]

In 2006, Loebsack narrowly defeated 15-termRepublican incumbentJim Leach in one of the biggest upsets of the cycle. Loebsack was nominated by a special convention of the 2nd District after failing to get the required number of signatures to be on the primary ballot. Since there was no one qualified for the ballot, the convention was called to determine the nomination. The 2nd had been trending Democratic for some time (a Republican presidential candidate had not carried it since 1984), and was considered the most Democratic-leaning district in the state. It was taken for granted that Leach would be succeeded by a Democrat once he retired, but he was not considered particularly vulnerable due to his moderate voting record, popularity, and longtime incumbency. Loebsack won largely by running up an 8,395-vote margin inJohnson County, home to Iowa City.

Loebsack was easily reelected in 2008, taking 57 percent of the vote overMariannette Miller-Meeks, a doctor from Ottumwa and the former president of the state medical society.

Loebsack faced Miller-Meeks again in 2010 and had a much more difficult time of it than he had two years earlier. He prevailed with only 51% of the vote, largely by running up a 13,900-vote margin inJohnson County.Terry Branstad easily carried the district in his successful bid to reclaim the governorship.Chuck Grassley carried every county in the district except Johnson; in fact, Johnson was the only county Grassley lost in his bid for another term.

After redistricting moved Loebsack's longtime home inMount Vernon to the 1st District of fellow DemocratBruce Braley, Loebsack moved to Iowa City in the reconfigured 2nd. The redrawn district is less Democratic than its predecessor; it regained Davenport, which had been the anchor of the 2nd and its predecessors for decades before being shifted out of the district in the 2000s round of redistricting.

Loebsack won the election with 55.4% of the vote. His Republican opponent, John Archer, got 42.5%; Alan Aversa, an Independent candidate, received 2.2%. Braley won the 1st district with 56.9% of the vote.^[7]

Loebsack beat Miller-Meeks, 52.5% to 47.5%. The 1st district went Republican, leaving Loebsack the only Democratic House member from Iowa.^[8]

In October 2016, theDaily Iowan endorsed Loebsack, saying that while he was "not perfect" he displayed a "willingness to work with the other side" and had "maintained some degree of competence in office."^[9] Loebsack defeated surgeon Christopher Peters, 54% to 46%. Again, Loebsack was the only Democrat that Iowa sent to the House in 2016. The state was won byDonald Trump by a comfortable margin, and RepublicanChuck Grassley was re-elected to the U.S. Senate by a landslide.^[10] Despite the Republican swing in Iowa, Loebsack managed to hold his position as a Democrat.

In a rematch of the 2016 election, Loebsack defeated Peters by a comfortable margin with 54.8% of the vote. Democrats also flipped the 1st and 3rd districts in this election cycle; therefore, Loebsack was no longer the sole Democratic member ofIowa's congressional delegation.^[11]

In November 2017, Loebsack was the only House member from Iowa to vote against theGOP tax reform bill, claiming the "tax plan that was rushed through the House of Representatives will hurt everyday Iowans."^[12]

In September 2017, Loebsack told Ottumwa voters that he supportsDreamers. He said, "We've got to do everything we can to protect them."^[13]

Ahead of the2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses, Loebsack endorsed formerSouth Bend, Indiana, mayorPete Buttigieg forPresident of the United States.^[14] After Buttigieg withdrew from the primaries, he endorsed eventual Democratic nomineeJoe Biden on March 12, 2020.^[15]

• Biography at theBiographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at theFederal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at theLibrary of Congress
• Profile atVote Smart
• Appearances onC-SPAN

• 1952 births
• American expatriates in Iceland
• American Methodists
• Methodists from Iowa
• Cornell College faculty
• Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa
• Iowa State University alumni
• Living people
• Politicians from Sioux City, Iowa
• University of California, Davis alumni
• 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives

• Articles with short description
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• People appearing on C-SPAN