Don't Call Me Scarface

Out of all the primary challengers to Iowa House incumbent Republicans, I had Jake Highfill labeled as one of the least serious. True, Erik Helland had gotten a lot of negative PR, but Highfill seemed Some Dude enough that I expected Helland to prevail.

Well, of course, that's what you get for counting on a Democrat to handicap a GOP primary, and Highfill was the only primary challenger to knock off an incumbent. But how many Urbandale Republicans would like that vote back? Patch:

A lawsuit filed against Iowa House District 39 Republican nominee Jake Highfill claims that he brought a shotgun to a college party, argued with his roommate during the event and smashed a glass bottle across the man's face, permanently disfiguring him...

Hard for a 22 year old candidate to pass this off as a "youthful indiscretion"...



This seat had a 3000 voter Republican registration edge as of March, which is strong, but not enough to make it a slam dunk for a flawed candidate. It's also unusual for a law student to have the maturity edge, but that's what Grimes Democrat Kelsey Clark has. Move this race up the charts a few notches.

Other House campaign news:

Here in Johnson County, Republican Steve Sherman is taking a blunt approach in his House 77 bid; he's got an uphill battle against Democrat Sally Stutsman in this open seat.

Democrat Bob Kressig, who always seems to prevail on swing turf, is getting to work in House District 59.