Background
Reed was born and reared in the small rural town of Solon, Iowa, in the eastern part of the state.
Reed was born and reared in the small rural town of Solon, Iowa, in the eastern part of the state.
He graduated from Solon High School, where he participated in wrestling, and entered the United States Navy.
Reed was unsuccessful in a bid for the Republican nomination for Congress in Iowa"s 2nd District in 2010. He served for five years, stationed at Submarine Base New London in Connecticut and then the United States Ship San Jacinto (CG-56) in Virginia. They have four children.
In 1998, Reed founded Iowa Answering Service, Incorporated., a 24-hour answering service.
Since then it has accumulated over 200 clients. The company is based in Cedar Rapids.
Having been nominated, Reed challenged four-term incumbent Democrat Tom Harkin. He ran on a self-described "solid conservative" platform, declaring that Harkin was supporting a misguided Democratic agenda.
He also attacked Harkin for being out of touch with Iowans, citing that as chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Harkin had taken a "hands-off" approach to the Food, Conservation, and Energy Acting of 2008, better known as the "Farm Bill".
Reed charged that Harkin should have been "elbow-deep" in the issue. The bill passed in both houses of Congress by an overwhelming majority twice, overriding President George West. Bush"s veto. Difficulties facing Reed"s campaign included a relatively small amount of name recognition and fundraising compared to Harkin.
As of September 29, 2008, Harkin led Reed in the polls by 14%.
In addition Harkin was shown to be more popular among unaffiliated voters, women, and mentor Harkin easily defeated Reed in the general election on November 4, 2008, with 63% of the vote, as opposed to Reed"s 37%.
Reed supports cutting taxes as a way to stimulate the troubled economy. He is strongly against illegal immigration and supports a border fence and an end to giving residential benefits to illegal immigrants.
He opposes rapid withdrawal from Iraq, claiming that withdrawal would embolden enemies to attack the United States.
He is strongly anti-abortion. He wants to end American dependence on foreign oil by expanding drilling for oil in Alaska and Utah as well as introducing ethanol as an alternative fuel. He is also in favor of gun rights and has been endorsed by the Gun Owners of America group.