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James Allen Nussle (born June 27 1960), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1991, currently representing the 1st District of Iowa (map). Nussle generally represents the northeastern part of the state. Because of redistricting some of the areas that he represents have changed, and at one time the area he represented was known as the 2nd District.

Background

He was born in Des Moines, Iowa, was educated at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa and Drake University in Des Moines, and was a lawyer before entering the House. When Tom Tauke made an unsuccessful run against Senator Tom Harkin during the 1990 election, Nussle ran as the Republican candidate for Tauke's seat and won.

Nussle's first election to the House was the closest election for him during his entire tenure in the House. He and challenger Eric Tabor had been in a virtual dead heat in the time leading up to the election. Just before the election, Tabor became embroiled in a controversy regarding absentee ballots that family members had cast. This controversy caused some votes to not be counted at the end, and also cost Tabor other votes as well. Tabor did not concede the election to Nussle until the day after the election.

In 1992, Nussle ran against fellow House member David "Dave" Nagle for what was the 2nd district of Iowa. This was because Iowa's House delegation was being reduced from six down to five Representatives. The areas that Nussle and Nagle had represented in Congress was combined for the 1992 election. Nussle won, even though he had only one term under his belt to Nagle's three.

Nussle's first exposure to national attention came when he made a speech from the well of the House while wearing a paper bag over his head to protest the "shameful" ethical behavior involved in the House banking scandal. Nussle, and the rest of the Gang of Seven cast themselves as young, idealistic conservatives, looking to reduce corruption in congressional politics.

He became Chairman of the House Budget Committee in 2001, the first such Iowa politician to serve as chair of this committee.

Nussle and his first wife, Leslie Jeanne (Harbison) Nussle, divorced in 1996. He has two children by his first wife: Sarah (b. Nov 2, 1988) and Mark, (b. Feb 25, 1991).

His current wife, Karen Chiccehitto Nussle, worked for Speaker Newt Gingrich, then later for the lobbying firm of Black, Kelly, Scruggs & Healey, a global firm with headquarters in New York, New York. In 2002, she was a communications professor at the University of Dubuque and is a regular fixture in his gubernatorial campaign.

Nussle's voting record has been relatively conservative, despite representing a district with a slight Democratic lean.

Gubernatorial Bid

When Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack announced that he would not seek a third term as Governor, a number of people from both parties began exploring running for Governor. That included Jim Nussle, who began considering a run shortly after Vilsack made his announcement. On June 2, 2005 while in Davenport, Iowa Nussle announced he will run for Governor of Iowa in the 2006 elections. After his announcement, Nussle departed to make a number of campaign stops across the state of Iowa.

So far three Republicans have announced their intentions to seek the House seat Nussle will be vacating in January, 2007:

• State Representative Bill Dix
• Past Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Brian Kennedy
• Quad Cities businessman Mike Whalen

The Democratic nomination is being sought by

• Chet Culver, the incumbant Iowa Secretary of State
• Waterloo attorney Bruce Braley
• Dubuque economic development executive Rick Dickinson
• and Nussle’s 2004 opponent, former state legislator and Scott County supervisor Bill Gluba.

Another Democratic, Denny Heath of Clinton, also said he intends to run but has not filed candidacy papers. Heath lost the Democratic primary to Gluba in 2004 and ran as an independent.

Election History

1990: Defeated Eric Tabor

1992: Defeated David Nagle

1994: Defeated David Nagle 56%-43%

1996: Defeated Donna Smith 51%-48%

1998: Defeated Rob Tully 55%-44%

2000: Defeated Donna Smith 55%-44%

2002: Defeated Ann Hutchinson 57%-43%

2004: Defeated Bill Gluba 55%-44%

Congressional Committees

• U.S. House Committee on the Budget Chairman
• U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means

External link

• Jim Nussle for Governor web site
• Official House of Representatives Website
• 2004 profile of Nussle in US News and World Reports

• 1960 births
• Current members of the United States House of Representatives
• Iowa politicians
• Living people
• U.S. Representatives from Iowa