I sincerely hope that this becomes big news on the progressive blogosphere.

"My life is committed to public service," Fallon said today. "That doesn't necessarily mean holding public office but I've thought long and hard since 2006 about where I could best make a difference in the world and the more I thought about it the more it seemed to be pointing to Congress."

Fallon, a community activist in the early 1990s, first won election as a state legislator in November of 1992 after beating veteran state Rep. Gary Sherzan that year in the Democratic primary.

Fallon quickly became known for his party dissent and sometimes irritated his friends at the Statehouse saying his party failed to be progressive enough on such matters as campaign finance reform, health care legislation and corporate hog confinements.

In 2006, Fallon ran unsuccessfully for governor but beat his main Democratic rivals -- Chet Culver and Michael Blouin -- in the 3rd District. Civil rights activist Ako Abdul-Samad, a Democrat, won his Statehouse seat that year.

Fallon, 49, is divorced and has two grown children. Boswell, 73, is in his sixth term in Congress.

Some of the key differences between them is Boswell's support of the Iraq war, Fallon said.

"I would not have supporting going to war with Iraq and I would not have supported continued votes for funding without any timetable for withdrawal," Fallon said.

Boswell's campaign committee has $611,000 cash on hand, according to the Federal Election Commission. The amount raised by Fallon has not yet been posted by the Commission but he said today that it's around $60,000. He vowed to refuse contributions from political action committees or lobbyists, another point of contrast he made with Boswell.

"I'm confident we can compete" with Boswell, Fallon said. "People are really eager for change. The fact that John Edwards and Barack Obama ran such strong campaigns without any PAC money or lobbyist money should put to rest the false argument that you can't compete without taking money from PACs or lobbyists."

A staff member for Boswell said the congressman would be sending out a statement about Fallon's campaign later today. Fallon said he will officially announce his run for Congress at a press conference next week.