× Thanks for reading! Log in to continue. Enjoy more articles by logging in or creating a free account. No credit card required. Log in Sign up {{featured_button_text}}

CLINTON, Iowa — It was just last November that Republican Christopher Peters lost to Rep. Dave Loebsack, but he’s already back on the campaign trail.

Driving in a 1968 VW bus, the Coralville surgeon made stops in a handful of eastern Iowa towns on Thursday, saying this time, it will be different.

“The big difference is we’re going to win in 2018,” he said.

Peters, a sort of last-minute candidate in 2016, is now starting 15 months before Election Day, twice the amount of time he gave himself last time.

He faces a tough challenge. The midterms after a presidential election are often difficult for the party in the White House, and Loebsack already has $1.3 million in the bank, a record for him at this stage of an election cycle.

Still, Peters had a stronger than expected showing last year given that he had little name recognition or money. He lost by about 7 percentage points in a campaign that saw little spending on either side.

Peters said a focus of his campaign will be health care. He is critical of the Affordable Care Act but also of the bills to repeal and replace it, saying Congress needs to spend its time on solutions to bring down the cost of providing medical care.