Mike Segar/Reuters
Author Stephen King waded into Iowa’s upcoming midterm elections Sunday with a personal plea to residents to vote out Rep. Steve King, the Republican whose victory had been all-but-guaranteed until his white nationalist rhetoric sparked outrage in the aftermath of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. “Iowans, for personal reasons I hope you’ll vote Steve King out. I’m tired of being confused with this racist dumbbell,” the master of horror tweeted. The writer’s non-endorsement endorsement joins a growing list of condemnations against Congressman King, with several Jewish leaders in Iowa denouncing him last week for his ties to far-right Austrians. The congressman easily won his last eight elections, but a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll released Saturday shows the recent backlash against him may have hampered his chances of victory. Forty five percent of voters who responded to the poll said they planned to vote for a Democrat, and only 39 percent said they’d support the Republican candidate. Another poll released late last month showed King’s Democratic opponent, J.D. Scholten, trailing him by just one point.