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Politics & Government

Former U.S. Rep. Nagle to be Honored at Democratic Party Celebration

The former Democratic Congressman, who represented a U.S. district that included Iowa City, comments on his induction into his party's "Hall of Fame" and the importance of keeping Iowa's caucuses first-in-the-nation.

Former Congressman Dave Nagle – who represented eastern Iowa, including Iowa City, for six years – will be inducted into the Iowa Democratic Party’s “Hall of Fame” at its celebration in Des Moines tomorrow.

Nagle, 68, of Cedar Falls, has been practicing law since serving in Congress and is being honored as the party’s 2011 “Outstanding Elected Official.”

Nagle, speaking from his Waterloo law office, said he’s honored to accept the award, but said there are more people than just himself that deserve recognition throughout his career.

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“I had absolutely wonderful people work with me. No one ever worked for me,” Nagle said.

“The body of work, whether it was the party or in Congress, was the product of a cooperative effort of a lot of good people.”

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Twenty-five years ago, Nagle, a native of Grinnell, won a primary election against former state representative Lowell Norland (D-Kensett). He would go on to defeat former state representative John McIntee (R-Waterloo) to win a seat in Congress representing Iowa’s 3rd district – the first Democrat elected in over 50 years to represent the area. At the time, the third district stretched from the Minnesota border down south through Cedar Falls and Iowa City, encompassing counties in the northeastern region of the state.

During his tenure in Congress, Nagle said he was particularly proud of helping to secure funding for the Avenue of the Saints, the four-lane highway running through Iowa that connects St. Paul to St. Louis. The project is credited with increasing interstate commerce and bringing economic opportunities to eastern Iowa.

Serving on the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, Nagle was also at the forefront of the farm credit crisis in 1988.

“That legislation putting a moratorium on farm foreclosures was actually drafted in my office,” he said.

During George H.W. Bush’s administration, Nagle acted as the Democratic point person in the House during the collapse of the Soviet Union and helped shepherd the Freedom Support Act of 1992, which provided economic support to a struggling Russia and other emerging democracies in the region – something Nagle said the elder President Bush deserved more credit for than he received at the time.

Republican Jim Nussle would later defeat Nagle by one-percent (2,966 votes) after the state lost a congressional seat during redistricting and the two incumbent congressmen were pitted together in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District in the 1992 general election.

Prior to embarking on a congressional career, Nagle served as chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party in the early to mid-1980s where he was a staunch proponent of keeping Iowa’s caucuses first-in-the-nation.

In 1984, the Democratic National Committee attempted to remove Iowa from its coveted role in the presidential nomination process.

“It was a calendar fight that’s so familiar today,” said Nagle. “Other states had moved (their contests) up. New Hampshire had moved their date up in response to that and I moved the Iowa caucuses back eight days before New Hampshire.”

“The national party was trying to force us to stay with the original date which would have destroyed our first-in-the-nation status. Once you give that up, you’re never going to get it back.”

Nagle, along with the IDP, went to war against party leaders and ultimately won a case in U.S. District Court reaffirming Iowa’s status.

The former three-term congressman said there will always be a threat challenging Iowa but he believes the GOP seems to be respecting the process this election cycle.

“They’re doing a good job of it, but there may be one place they’re short – and I offer this only to be helpful and not to be critical – in getting the presidential candidates involved in signing a pledge that they would honor Iowa’s first-in-the-nation status,” Nagle said.

For those candidates like former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who are focusing their campaigns outside of the state, Nagle says the New Hampshire Republican Party should be pressuring them, and other candidates, to sign a pledge stating that they won’t compete in states that leapfrog outside the approved calendar and that they would agree to support Iowa and New Hampshire’s traditional places at the national convention.

“We’ve got to let the candidates know if they’re going to compete in Iowa or New Hampshire, they better not be running down to Florida or tripping over to Michigan,” he said. 

In his address at the IDP’s Hall of Fame event Friday night, Nagle will discuss the importance of Iowa’s role. He also has a rather blunt message of “reaffirmation” for fellow party members: 

“Our fundamental values – the reason I joined the Democratic Party so many years ago – are still right and our desire to win elections should not permit us to stand back from the principles that guide the party because when we don’t, we will continue to see the growth of the disparity of wealth in this country that we’re witnessing now.”

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