DES MOINES — J.D. Scholten, the Sioux City Democrat who nearly unseated U.S. Rep. Steve King in western Iowa’s deep-red 4th Congressional District, has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday morning at the Iowa Capitol.

An email from Scholten’s 2018 campaign manager did not elaborate on the announcement’s topic.

Ever since Scholten came within 3 percentage points of King in the 2018 elections, political observers have speculated Scholten would run for office again.

One possibility is that he could announce intentions to seek the Democratic nomination to run against Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst in 2020.

Scholten is a consultant and former professional baseball player.

His campaign against King garnered national attention, helping Scholten raise more than $3.3 million, according to federal records.

Scholten, a first-time candidate, lost to King by 3 percentage points in a district with 70,000 more registered Republican voters than Democrats. It was King’s closest re-election victory in his nine-term career in Congress.

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