Steve King: Election Night Was A Setback For Republicans - Siouxland News - KMEG 14 and FOX 44

Steve King: Election Night Was A Setback For Republicans

Democrats kept a majority in the Senate, but Republicans still control the House of Representatives following the November 6th election.

Republicans like Congressman King say while the night was a setback for his party, he'll be working to avoid a gridlock in congress.

"About the best way to describe this election is status quo," said Dr. David Wiltse, a Political Science Professor at Briar Cliff University.

But Republicans like Steve King say that's not a good thing.

King won another term in the U.S. House, beating former Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack in Iowa's new fourth District, but even with the victory the incumbent congressman says the status quo might make it harder for him to get things done.

"It's still the gridlock scenario that we had going into this election, I had hoped that the voters would break that gridlock," said Congressman King. "We're going to have to figure out how to do that in lame-duck session now."

Even though 2012 turned out to be a good year for Democrats, the 2014 mid-term elections might tell a different story.

"The Democrats are bound to lose seats in the midterm," said Dr. Wiltse. "They may in fact lose the senate depending on how badly things are looking for them at that time."

But despite any problems, King says one of his first orders of business will be pushing for a balanced budget.

"Barack Obama will have us well over $20 trillion in debt, probably $24 trillion in debt and I don't think he intends to back off, I think he intends to stand," said Congressman King.

"The House's job is to slow it down, stop it if we can, make the case to the American people that we need to go back to the Constitution and fiscal responsibility," said King. "And I'm going to push this balanced budget amendment and do my best to get this thing pushed through the house and the senate,"

It won't be long before Steve King's back in Washington. The Senate's in session now, the House will get back to work next week.