Longtime Republican Sen. Charles Grassley will seek a fifth term in 2004. Grassley, the Senate Finance Committee chairman, faces Democrat Art Small, an attorney, businessman and English professor at St. Ambrose College.

Both men faced no competition for their respective nominations in the primaries.

Marking the start of the 2004 presidential election, Sen. John Kerry, of Massachusetts, won the state's Democratic caucuses in January with 37 percent of the vote to Sen. John Edwards' 31 percent.

Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin held his "Hear it from the Heartland" forums to give all Democratic rivals a chance to make their case. The forums are heavily watched by activists in the state and are broadcast nationally by the cable network C-SPAN.

Kerry and Pres. George Bush are campaigning heavily in the swing state, which went to then-Vice President Al Gore by a slim margin over Bush in 2000.

In the upcoming 1st District House race, Democratic real estate agent Bill Gluba will take on Republican Rep. Jim Nussle, a seven-term incumbent who holds the powerful post of chairman on the House Budget Committee.

In Iowa's 5th District, Joyce Schulte, a community college administrator, will take on freshman Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, a staunchly conservative politician with heavy support in Iowa's sprawling 5th District, which covers most of western Iowa.

In 2002, Harkin, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, secured a fourth term with a win over Republican Rep. Greg Ganske.

Democratic Governor Tom Vilsack was re-elected to a second term over monied Republican lawyer Doug Gross.