Perennial candidate Bob Krause announced on Monday he is running for Congress in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District. Krause, a Democrat from Burlington, served in the Iowa House in the 1970s.
“I will lead by fighting for issues that you care about,” Krause said in his campaign launch video. “Not like Miller-Meeks. She votes like Trump’s rubber stamp.”
The candidate did not go into any more detail about issues than that in the video, but did stress that winning in IA-01 would give the Democrats a chance to retake control of the House of Representatives. Krause does not yet have a campaign site online.
This is Krause’s first run for the U.S. House, but over the last 15 years, he’s run for the U.S. Senate three times. In 2010, he finished second in the Democratic primary behind former U.S. Attorney Roxanne Conlin, who went on to lose to Grassley in the general election. Six years later, Krause finished last in a field of four candidates in the Democratic primary. The winner, former Lt. Gov. Patty Judge, was defeated by Grassley in the general election. Krause ran again in 2022, but withdrew before the primary and endorsed Mike Franken. Franken also ended up losing to Grassley in the general election.
In 2013, Krause began a campaign for governor, but withdrew six months before the primary and endorsed Jack Hatch for the Democratic nomination. Hatch went on to lose to incumbent Terry Branstad in the 2014 general election.
The only time since 1978 that Krause’s name has appeared on a general election ballot was in 2024, when he ran for Des Moines County Sheriff. Krause was the only Democrat to challenge incumbent Sheriff Kevin Glendening, who ran as an independent. Glendening won with 73 percent of the vote.
Krause told the Hawk Eye he joined the race for sheriff because Glendening was running unopposed, after the sheriff changed his party affiliation from Democrat to No Party.
“In a democracy you need two people on the ballot,” Krause told the newspaper. Glendening was reelected with 73 percent of the vote.
There already is a Democrat running in Iowa 1st Congressional District this year. Travis Terrell of Tiffin launched his campaign for the seat currently held Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks in March.
“I’m running because I believe working people deserve better than culture war distractions and corporate loyalty,” Terrell explained in a letter published by the Gazette. “We deserve leaders who care more about your hospital closing than about Tucker Carlson’s approval.”
Terrell grew up in Ottumwa, and went to Indian Hill Community College. He works as a patient access special at University of Iowa Health Care. On the issues page of his campaign site, Terrell declares his belief that “healthcare is a human right” and says he’s “committed to protecting and expanding the [healthcare] programs that working people, families, and veterans rely on most.”
Terrell also supports LGBTQ rights, saying, “No one should be treated as less because of who they are, who they love, or how they identify.” He also lists increasing protections for workers, making it easier to join unions and raising the federal minimum wage to $17 per hour as top priorities. Terrell favors “smart gun control” and immigration reform that creates a pathway to citizenship, as well as establishing “a federal legal defense fund for immigrants facing deportation — because due process isn’t a privilege, it’s a right.” On environmental issues, he favors “treating environmental collapse like the global emergency it is.”
Terrell also advocates for campaign finance reform, calling the existing system “legalized bribery.” According to his site, Terrell’s campaign will be “100% grass roots,” relying on donations “from Iowans who share my viewpoints.”
This is Terrell’s first run for elective office. His response on social media to Krause joining the race was uncommonly harsh for Iowa politics.
“With all due respect to Bob Krause, who I’m sure means well, the last thing Congress needs is another 80-year-old man [sic] telling us how to fix a future he won’t be around to face,” the 39-year-old Terrell wrote. “My generation has been handed a broken economy, unaffordable healthcare, and a climate crisis, and told, ‘Just fix it.’”
Krause is 75 years old.
Bob Krause was born in Algona, Iowa, in 1950, and grew up on his family’s farm. He is currently the president of the Veterans National Recovery Center, a Burlington-based nonprofit he started in 2010 to assist veterans with PTSD and other service-related disorders in adjusting to civilian life. Krause served in the Army Reserve for 28 years, retiring as a colonel in 2000.
He represented Burlington in the Iowa House from 1973 to ’78. Krause decided to run for State Treasurer instead of his House seat in 1978, but lost to Republican incumbent Maurice Baringer in a landslide.
Krause worked in transportation planning for most of his career, at both government agencies and in the private sector. He also worked as a military contractor.
Krause and Terrell aren’t the only candidates mounting a 2026 challenge to Miller-Meeks. She is also facing a primary challenge from a fellow Republican. David Pautsch, best known as the host of the annual Quad Cities Prayer Breakfast, is running for his party’s nomination. Paustch also ran against Miller-Meeks in 2024. He accuses her of not truly supporting Republican principles or “biblical morality,” and only pretending to support President Trump, while “actually [being] a Trump hater.”
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who is in her third term, has not yet officially said if she is running for reelection, but is expected to do so.
