One small error with Yepsen’s column...
Roger Jepsen was the incumbent in ‘84. A scandal-plagued incumbent who should have won handily in a true GOP year.
But Harkin beat him while Reagan carried the state.
But the rest of the story is correct. The GOP has put up some first-rate challengers to Harkin but they really haven’t come close to beating him.
All of Harkin’s challengers since 1984 have been first-tier. Harkin hasn’t run for reelection in a Presidential year since he faced Jim Ross Lightfoot in 1996. Many of us thought Lightfoot would finally bring him down, as he hailed from the same bailiwick as Harkin (Lightfoot won Harkin’s House seat in 1984), but he still came up short (not helped by the fact that Clintoon was carrying the state), though held him to his closest margin.
These are the results of his 4 Senate runs:
Harkin-(Senator) Roger Jepsen (1984) 56-44%
Harkin-(Congressman) Tom Tauke (1990) 54-45%
Harkin-(Congressman) Jim Ross Lightfoot (1996) 52-47%
Harkin-(Congressman) Greg Ganske (2002) 54-44%
I think if Harkin had had to run in ‘94 against Lightfoot, he probably would’ve been defeated by around 51-49% and Lightfoot would still be the junior Senator today. It was the thinking in ‘02 that Dr. Ganske could bring down Harkin because of the fact he accomplished his greatest feat in ‘94 in bringing down 36-year incumbent Democrat Rep. Neal Smith (but he only performed slightly better than Sen. Jepsen, who did the worst against Harkin).