Iowa native JD Scholten announces second bid to unseat GOP Rep. Steve King

By Donald Judd, CNN
Updated 1036 GMT (1836 HKT) August 5, 2019

(CNN) — Former Democratic candidate for Congress J.D. Scholten will once again challenge Rep. Steve King of Iowa in 2020, citing "unfinished business that I felt in my heart," Scholten told CNN in an interview Sunday.

Up until now, Scholten, a retired semi-pro baseball player who mounted his first campaign for office against King in 2018, has played coy about a possible 2020 rematch against King, but last week he hinted towards an imminent announcement, telling The Storm Lake Times' Art Cullen, "Let me put it this way. Last cycle we hoped to win. This cycle we intend to win."

The Sioux City-native raised eyebrows nationally after nearly unseating King in 2018, when the eight-term Iowa congressman narrowly retained his seat by a margin of 3.8 points. "We created this grassroots movement that was very people-focused, and we took a race that most national folks thought was unwinnable, and we moved the needle 24 points," Scholten told CNN Sunday. "The mindset of the district, of the voters now, is completely different than when we started two years ago."

Scholten's campaign will officially launch Monday morning, in a video narrated by "Field of Dreams" star Kevin Costner. Scholten, who played baseball in seven countries but never strayed far from Iowa at heart, says the actor was the perfect choice.

"There's a connection there ... you look at 'Field of Dreams' and, 'If you build it, they will come,' that's my campaign. We built something, and we earned the votes last time."

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