 By the early 1970s , Bedell had decided to run for political office . In 1972 , he ran against Wiley Mayne , a Republican incumbent in Iowa 's 6th congressional district . Mayne was a staunch supporter of Richard Nixon and secured victory along with the President in a year favorable to the Republicans . Mayne , however , would politically suffer after Watergate ( he was one of only a few Republicans to vote against <unk> the President on the judiciary committee . ) The damage had already been done , and Bedell defeated Mayne in a 1974 rematch . 
