 Loebsack had only qualified for the Democratic primary as a write-in candidate, and Leach was not on many Democratic target lists.However, Loebsack managed to defeat Leach by a narrow 6,000-vote margin, largely by running up an 8,395-vote margin in the Iowa City area.In conjunction with a Democratic tide which swept Eastern Iowa and across the U.S. in the 2006 election, there were two factors seen as what led to Leach's defeat