Bruce Braley

Bruce Lowell Braley (born October 30, 1957) is an American politician and attorney who served as the U.S. representative for IA's 1st congressional district from 2007 to 2015.

The 1st district had been in Republican hands since 1979.

Braley worked as a trial lawyer in Waterloo with Dutton, Braun, Staack, & Hellman, PLC (now known as Dutton, Daniels, Hines, Kalkoff, Cook, & Swanson, P.L.C) for 23 years, beginning in 1983.

The district has supported the Democratic candidate for President in every election since 1988 until the 2016 United States presidential election.

However, eastern Iowa has swung heavily Democratic since the 1990s.

The district, which was numbered as the 2nd District for most of the period from Iowa's statehood until 2003, became even more Democratic when much of the Quad Cities area, including Davenport and Bettendorf was shifted into it from the old 1st District (now the 2nd).

Braley won an open seat battle in the 1st district after eight-term Republican congressman Jim Nussle stepped down to make an unsuccessful run for Governor in 2006.

In the 2006 midterm election, Braley defeated Republican opponent Mike Whalen, a Quad City businessman.

Braley became the second member of Iowa's congressional delegation to issue an endorsement in the 2008 presidential race, announcing his support on December 5, 2007, for former North Carolina Senator John Edwards in a press conference in Waterloo.

On April 30, 2008, Braley threw his support behind Senator Barack Obama following Edwards' withdrawal from the race.

Braley told the Des Moines Register in a December 23, 2008 article that Congress cannot wait to enact reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, saying "We have ignored this problem for far too long."

Braley has taken a pro-choice stance, having received 100% ratings from Planned Parenthood in 2008, 2010, and 2012, as well as 100% position ratings from NARAL Pro-Choice America in 2007, and 2009 through 2012.

On June 26, 2009, Braley voted to pass an emissions trading measure in order to limit greenhouse gas emissions and set new requirements for electric utilities.

Braley voted to pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Braley supports raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour.

On November 7, 2009, Braley voted for House passage of H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, which included a public health insurance option.

In 2010 Braley defeated GOP challenger Ben Lange, an attorney from Independence, by only about 4,000 votes out of more than 215,000 cast.

Ultimately, a 4,300 vote margin in Braley's home county, Black Hawk County, allowed him to overcome coattails from Terry Branstad and Chuck Grassley and secure a third term.

Grassley carried every county in the district; Branstad carried all but three.

In the general election, Braley won reelection by a much wider margin than in 2010.

The non-partisan, non-profit website OnTheIssues.org labels Braley a "Populist-Leaning Liberal."

On March 21, 2010, Braley voted for the final version of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

On April 3, 2012, Braley announced his reelection campaign in his hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa.

Due to redistricting, Braley lost heavily Democratic Davenport but picked up equally Democratic Cedar Rapids and several other northeastern Iowa counties.

Lange and Dubuque businessman Rod Blum announced their candidacy to run in a 1st District Republican primary to face Braley in a general election.

According to OpenSecrets, Braley led all Iowa Congressional candidates in out-of-state contributions, receiving about 3.5 times the amount of donations from out-of-state contributions as he has from in-state; a Republican activist and Braley's political opponent both filed House ethics complaints against Braley as a result, but the charges were found to be without merit.

Braley raised an approximate total of $2.46 million for his re-election campaign, The sectors following two and three behind the lawyers and lobbyists were labor groups, and health groups, raising approximately $223,000 and $157,000 respectively.

Braley spent approximately $2.11 million of what he raised being spent during the course of the campaign.

Lange won the Republican primary, and faced Braley in a rematch.

According to a press release from four-term Pennsylvania Republican Charlie Dent, in a display of bipartisanship, Braley sat with Dent at President Obama's 2012 State of the Union address.

Afterwards Braley praised the address, saying: “I’m glad the President so strongly emphasized strengthening the middle class tonight.

I was especially encouraged by his focus on economic fairness, creating jobs, and investing in education.

The American middle class is being squeezed more than ever, yet Wall Street bankers and big corporations are making record profits.”

Braley opposes the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.

A member of the Democratic Party, he was defeated in his attempt to win an open seat in the 2014 United States Senate election in Iowa.

Braley was born in Grinnell, Iowa, the son of Marcia L. (née Sherwood) and Byard C. Braley.

He has English, Scots-Irish, and German ancestry.

His family owned a farm in nearby Brooklyn, Iowa.

Braley attended college at Iowa State University where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.

He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Iowa College of Law.