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  Blum, Rod
CANDIDATE DETAILS
AffiliationRepublican  
  2015-01-04  
 
NameRod Blum
Address11361 Oakland Farms Road
Dubuque, Iowa 52003, United States
EmailNone
Website [Link]
Born April 26, 1955 (68 years)
Contributorev
Last Modifed123NY
Jan 11, 2019 10:33am
Tags Married - Episcopalian -
InfoI was born and raised in Dubuque. My father quit school in the 10th grade, and lied about his age so he could join the Navy to fight in World War II. After the war he worked as a laborer at Dubuque’s meat packing plant.

My mother also quit school in the 10th grade to marry my father before he shipped out. With 4 boys in the house, she had to clean other people’s houses to buy groceries. Mom just turned 82 last month and is 100% dependent on Social Security and Medicare. Needless to say those programs are very important to her.

We didn’t have much money. When I begged my parents for something, most of the time the answer was “N…O….we can’t afford it”. I didn’t like to hear that answer but my parents knew they couldn’t spend more than they made. If my parents, with their 10th grade educations, could figure that out . . . WHY CAN’T WASHINGTON POLITICIANS?

Like so many other people in this great country, I worked to pay my way through college, earned a Masters Degree in Business, landed a job in the computer industry and started working on my own version of the American Dream.

I was one of the owners of a software company that grew from 5 to 325 employees in just five years. Our payroll grew from about $100,000 a year to over $10,000,000 a year. That company went public on the NASDAQ stock exchange. As the Chief Executive Officer, I was honored to receive an Iowa Entrepreneur of the Year award.

Today I am an owner of Digital Canal Software, based in Dubuque. We develop and design and sell software for the Home Building and Structural Engineering markets worldwide.

• I’ve met a payroll every week for 21 YEARS.
• I’ve balanced a budget for 21 YEARS.
• I’ve created jobs in the private sector.
• I’ve taken risks - and sometimes failed. But I’ve have NEVER expected a government bailout.
• I’ve had to deal, EVERY DAY, with the burdens that Washington DC puts on business.


I’m also a real estate developer. I’ve experienced, FIRSTHAND, the frustration dealing with government agencies, such as the E.P.A. Recently my development partnership was looking at developing 100 acres of land and building around 250 homes on that land – a total investment of over $50 million. Things were going fine until the government entered the picture. We were faced with Endangered Plant Studies, Endangered Species Studies, and Indian Artifact Studies.

But the straw that broke the camel’s back was a Wetlands Mitigation Study. A small valley – that we wanted to fill in - was classified as a “wetlands” because when it rained, the valley collected water and had water runoff. We were told that we had to purchase “offsetting man-made wetlands” in Council Bluffs Iowa. Needless to say our $50 million investment ended up being ZERO.

I was also a boys basketball coach at Dubuque Senior High School. I always taught my players that SUCCESS was a 3-legged stool – one leg was HARD WORK, the second leg was PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY and the third leg was BELIEF IN YOURSELF. I am praying that “hard work”, “personal responsibility” and “belief in the individual” are going to make a comeback in Washington DC November of next year!

I’m also a student pilot and have written a conservative political newspaper column for the Telegraph Herald over the last ten years. So my conservative stands on the issues are well documented.

And most importantly I am a husband to Karen, and a father to Trevor, Taylor, Tanner and Sophie, a stepfather to Autumn, who is enlisted in the United States Navy stationed in Utah, and surrogate father to Malcolm , a former basketball player of mine from Chicago, who was orphaned at the age of 19.


JOB APPROVAL POLLS
DateFirmApproveDisapproveDon't Know
02/12/2018-02/13/2018 Public Policy Polling 37.00% ( 4.0) 47.00% ( 5.0) 16.00% ( 0.0)
11/02/2017-11/03/2017 Public Policy Polling 33.00% ( 0.0) 52.00% ( 0.0) 16.00% ( 0.0)
09/29/2016-10/01/2016 Polling Company, Inc. 48.00% ( 4.0) 24.00% ( 2.0) 28.00% ( 2.0)
08/14/2016-08/16/2016 Polling Company, Inc. 44.00% ( 0.0) 26.00% ( 0.0) 30.00% ( 0.0)
FAVORABILITY POLLS
DateFirmFavorableUnfavorableDon't Know
04/23/2015-04/26/2015 Public Policy Polling 31.00% ( 0.0) 31.00% ( 0.0) 38.00% ( 0.0)

BOOKS
Title Purchase Contributor

EVENTS
Start Date End Date Type Title Contributor

NEWS
Date Category Headline Article Contributor
Feb 21, 2018 03:00pm Scandal Iowa congressman failed to disclose new company  Article RP 

DISCUSSION
Importance? 0.00000 Average

FAMILY

INFORMATION LINKS
RACES
  11/06/2018 IA - District 01 Lost 45.91% (-5.06%)
  06/05/2018 IA - District 01 - R Primary Won 98.88% (+97.76%)
  11/08/2016 IA - District 01 Won 53.74% (+7.66%)
  06/07/2016 IA - District 01 - R Primary Won 99.35% (+98.70%)
  11/04/2014 IA - District 01 Won 51.07% (+2.29%)
  06/03/2014 IA District 01 - R Primary Won 54.89% (+17.77%)
  06/05/2012 IA District 1 - R Primary Lost 46.37% (-6.69%)
ENDORSEMENTS
IA US President - R Caucus - Jan 15, 2024 R Donald J. Trump
IA Governor - R Primary - Jun 05, 2018 R Kim Reynolds
US House Speaker - Jan 06, 2015 R Daniel Webster
FEC COMMITTEES
C00506139 BLUM FOR CONGRESS 2012 $ 0.00
C00543926 Blum for Congress $ 6.07