A former 30-year Republican Iowa Congressman is endorsing Democrats in 2022. Here’s why.

Leach represented Iowa in the U.S. House as a moderate Republican for 30 years until he lost reelection to former Rep. Dave Loebsack, a Democrat, in 2006. 

He endorsed Joe Biden in 2020, and, for the first time, switched his party registration from R to D to vote in the 2022 June primary.

Leach said the switch was prompted by a Republican Party that he described as lurching to the right in its support for Donald Trump, leading up to and after Jan. 6, and lying about the results of the 2020 election.

“My own view is that there is no excuse whatsoever for an insurrection,” Leach said. “And that we’re in one of the most profound challenges to American democracy ever, excepting the civil war.”

He added his switch was more of a rebuke to the national Republican Party than particular Iowa Republican members of Congress, whom he said he had respect for.

“Today, the Republican Party that I spent so many years with has really let the country down,” Leach said. “And we need to have a political party that operates in a way that both parties can participate. The Republican Party has just torn itself apart and it’s got to pull itself together. I’ll lean toward the Democratic Party as long as excellent people are running.”

In particular, Leach said he wanted to endorse a University of Iowa colleague Christina Bohannan, the Democrat running for the newly drawn 1st District because of her credentials as a law professor.

The district covers the Iowa Quad-Cities. 

“This particular year could not be more appropriate for a law school professor to run,” Leach said, referencing the U.S. House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Bohannan, who is running to unseat Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, is a law professor with expertise in intellectual property law, the First Amendment, and competition law, according to the University of Iowa College of Law. Bohannan ran in 2020 for Statehouse in Iowa City, defeating a long-time Democratic incumbent.

The Miller-Meeks campaign did not send a comment by press time.  

Leach said he didn’t hold any specific grievances with Miller-Meeks as a representative. Miller-Meeks is a first-term U.S. representative, ophthalmologist and former state senator. 

“She’s intelligent and not an embarrassment to the state or anything,” he said of Miller-Meeks. “She’s a decent person. I just don’t see anyone standing up to Christina.”

Miller-Meeks was one of 35 House Republicans to vote to create the bipartisan House committee investigating the events of Jan. 6, which Leach said he applauded her for.

Political scientists debate how much weight endorsements carry. Bohannan, in a statement, said she was “honored” by Leach’s endorsement. 

“I have tremendous respect for Jim Leach and am honored to have his endorsement,” Bohannan said. “As a congressman, he told the truth, served with honor and integrity, and put the people of southeast Iowa ahead of party politics. He understands what is at stake in this election and the importance of electing someone who will work for working people, not for party bosses and special interests.”

Leach also said he also would support Mike Franken, a former Navy admiral and Democrat running to unseat long-time U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley. Leach cited Franken’s naval experience as being valuable to Congressional proceedings and took issue with Grassley’s role in ushering through conservative picks for the U.S. Supreme Court that led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

“It’s really important we have some naval knowledge in the senate, which is why I was very pleased to see Admiral Franken run,” Leach said.

Iowa has trended red in recent years, voters have elected a Republican trifecta at the state government level and in 2020 voters sent a Republican senator and three of four congressional representatives to Congress. Grassley faced a challenge from the far right flank of his party in June, and the party came out of the June 2022 primary with a big advantage in registered voters.

Political forecasters say midterm headwinds are likely to favor Republicans in the fall as President Biden remains unpopular.

Asked whether he believed a moderate Republican could win again in Iowa, Leach said: “It would be awfully, awfully hard in the primary.”

“A lot of Republicans would have a decent chance of a general election but would have a really hard time, at least over the last year, in a primary,” Leach said.

Leach said he wasn’t sure whether he’d keep his Democrat registration, nor who he would vote for down ballot races, but he would vote for candidates he considered to have “decency.”

“We have an obligation to pull together and vote for anyone who has a moral capacity to lead in a credible way,” Leach said.