Rep. Leonard Boswell (D) Elected 1996, 4th term
Born:	Jan. 10, 1934, Harrison Cnty., MO
Home:	Davis City
Education:	Graceland Col., B.A. 1969
Religion:	Reorganized Latter Day Saints
Marital Status:	married (Dody)
Elected  Office:	IA Senate, 1984-96, Pres., 1992-96.
Military Career:	Army, 1956-76 (Vietnam).
Professional Career:	Farmer.
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Iowa, which today seems very much in the middle of the country, was once part of the West. It was not only the home of sober farmers and pious burghers, but also the eastern terminus of the first Transcontinental Railroad, a waystop for people in a hurry to get across the Great Plains to the Rockies and the Pacific Northwest. Those who stayed behind were determined to use the wealth accumulated by methodical husbandry of their fertile farmlands to implant firmly the glories of Western civilization. You can feel that impulse today in Des Moines when you look across the river from downtown at the Victorian Capitol, its gold dome above a Corinthian pediment, or Terrace Hill, the beautifully restored governor's mansion, atop a hill overlooking the Raccoon River. The nearby Living History Farms, which recreate Indian villages, frontier towns and turn-of-the-century farms, show the effort the new settlers made to put their imprint on the environment.

The 3d Congressional District covers 12 counties in central Iowa, including Des Moines's Polk County and extending to the east. It is the only Iowa district that does not border another state or a mighty river on the east or west. Some 65% of its votes are cast in Polk County, but it does not include Dallas or Warren Counties which are in the Des Moines metropolitan area. Des Moines remains classically Middle America, consuming more Jell-O per capita than anywhere else in the nation. It is now spreading into the countryside even as Iowa farm counties' population continues to decline. Insurance, agricultural supply and printing and service businesses are expanding in office centers downtown and at freeway interchanges; Iowans are driving 100 miles or more to fill the shopping malls at cities' edges. The remainder of the district is largely rural, with no city larger than 30,000. But these small towns continue to house some giant manufacturing plants. Pella (9,800) is the home of the Pella window and door maker, which employs 3,000 workers. The famed Amana colonies, which were founded in 1855 by the Community of True Inspiration, German pietists who have retained many of their old customs, is the home of the Amana appliance business; in 2001, Newton (population 15,000) appliance-maker Maytag acquired Amana in a marriage of two of the state's largest manufacturers. Polk County has historically voted Democratic, but has become more Republican as its white collar businesses grow and its blue collar businesses fade; the rural counties here have mostly been historically Republican. The result is a district split right down the middle, about as evenly divided as the nation in the presidential election of 2000.

The congressman from the 3d District is Leonard Boswell, a Democrat elected in 1996, the only new Iowa Democrat elected to the House since 1986. He is not the stereotypical Democrat, however. Boswell grew up on farms in Ringgold and Decatur Counties, near the Missouri border. He was drafted in 1956, at 22, and was a private in the Army. He re-enlisted, graduated first in his class in both fixed wing and helicopter flying school, served two years in Vietnam, and retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1976. Boswell settled down on his Decatur County farm and became head of the local Farmers' Co-op. He managed to keep it out of bankruptcy during the farm depression of the 1980s and decided to go into politics. He was elected state senator from a six-county Republican district in 1984, served as chairman of Appropriations and, after 1992, Senate president; he was the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 1994.

In 1996, Boswell ran for an open seat in the old 3d District, whose Republican congressman was running against Senator Tom Harkin. The district was largely rural and extended across the southern tier of Iowa from the Mississippi River to within one county of the Missouri. His contest with Poweshiek County attorney Mike Mahaffey was very much a contest of nice guys. Boswell flew his four-seater Piper Comanche 250 around the district and called for balancing the budget, higher education aid and protections against Medicare reductions, all to be financed with Pentagon cuts and elimination of Medicare waste. Mahaffey ran as a moderate Republican. Boswell was endorsed by the Farm Bureau, which usually backs Republicans. He raised more money than Mahaffey and, like other Democrats, ran ads attacking Newt Gingrich and the Republican Medicare plan. The result was a 49%-48% Boswell victory.

Boswell got a seat on Agriculture and, amid dropping farm prices, continued to support the Freedom to Farm Act. Along with all of the delegation's Republicans, he voted for PNTR with China, the world's biggest market for pork. His voting record has consistently placed him in the most conservative quadrant of House Democrats. He helped to form the Mississippi River Caucus to seek consensus on commercial uses of the river and its environmental protection. In 2001, Boswell was assigned to the Intelligence Committee. With his extensive military background and "top secret" clearance, he was well positioned to investigate the nation's response to terrorism. In October 2002, he voted to authorize military action in Iraq.

The 2001 redistricting plan drawn by the Legislative Service Bureau and approved by the legislature and governor left Boswell with a dilemma. Only 7 of the 27 counties and 24% from the population in his former district were moved to the new 3d District. His farmhouse, along with 7 counties, was moved to western Iowa's new, heavily Republican 5th District. The other option was to move to the new 2d District, which leans Democratic but where he probably would have faced a tough contest against Republican Jim Leach. Boswell decided to move to Des Moines and run in the 3d. But he faced an internal challenge from Polk County state Senator Matt McCoy, who had been running for months in whatever district included Polk County. McCoy did not drop out quietly or quickly, but local fundraising events for Boswell by Minority Leader Dick Gephardt eventually convinced him to defer. Republican challenger Stan Thompson was less accommodating. A Des Moines lawyer who worked for George W. Bush in the 2000 Iowa caucuses, Thompson argued that Boswell was out of step with the new district's geography and philosophy. He cited the incumbent's votes against Bush's tax bill and trade promotion authority. Thompson ran a credible campaign and won several endorsements, including a joint designation with Boswell from the Farm Bureau. Iowa Republicans, preoccupied with bolstering three House incumbents who were facing spirited challenges, were unable to provide significant financial support; on Election Day Boswell won by a 53%-45% margin. Thompson won four rural counties, but Boswell carried Polk County 55%-44%.

When he was first elected, Boswell said that he would limit himself to four terms, which expire in 2004. But in March 2003, Boswell said he would break his pledge and run again. "I made a mistake," he explained to the Des Moines Register. "It seemed like sort of the popular thing, and I was ok with it." This could be a competitive district again in 2004.

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DC Office
1427 LHOB 20515, 202-225-3806; Fax: 202-225-5608; Web site: www.house.gov/boswell

State Offices
Des Moines, 515-282-1909.

Committees

• Agriculture (19th of 24 D): General Farm Commodities & Risk Management; Livestock & Horticulture.
• Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (4th of 9 D): Human Intelligence, Analysis & Counterintelligence (RMM); Terrorism & Homeland Security.
• Transportation & Infrastructure (18th of 34 D): Aviation; Railroads.

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	CON	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2002	80	67	78	75	63	50	27	55	32	14	25
2001	85	--	100	71	--	--	22	48	24	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2001 LIB	--	2001 CONS		2002 LIB	--	2002 CONS
Economic	57%	--	44%		58%	--	42%
Social	65%	--	34%		56%	--	42%
Foreign	61%	--	36%		64%	--	36%
For National Journal's complete 2002 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 107th Congress (More Info)
1. Approve Bush Tax Cuts N 2. Limit Patients' Bill of Rights N 3. Campaign Finance Reform Y 4. Ban ANWR Development Y 5. Faith-Based Charities N 6. Bar Gays in the Boy Scouts N		7. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion Y  8. Arm Commercial Pilots Y  9. Trade Promotion Authority N 10. Bar Funds for Intl. Court Y 11. Authorize Force in Iraq Y 12. Deny Home. Sec. Dept. Union N

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2002 general	Leonard Boswell (D)	115,367	53%	$1,316,037
	Stan Thompson (R)	97,285	45%	$895,163
	Other	3,333	2%
2002 primary	Leonard Boswell (D)	unopposed
2000 general	Leonard Boswell (D)	156,327	63%	$710,518
	Jay Marcus (R)	83,810	34%	$198,403
	Other	8,677	3%
Prior winning percentages: 1998 (57%); 1996 (49%)

2000 presidential
	Gore (D)	132,890	49%
	Bush (R)	131,319	48%
	Other	7,226	3%
For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Third District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: X +00
• District Size: 7,034 square miles
• Population in 2000: 585,305; 73.1% urban; 26.9% rural
• Median Household Income: $43,176; 8.0% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 23.5% blue collar; 62.0% white collar; 14.5% gray collar; 12.7% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 90.1% White, 3.2% Black, 1.9% Asian, 0.4% Amer. Indian, 0.0% Hawaiian, 1.1% Two+ races, 0.1% Other, 3.2% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 20.7% German, 9.6% Irish, 7.7% English
• Click here for statewide demographic data.