--- description: Dr. Doug Butzier, a Libertarian candidate running for Senate in Iowa, died in a plane crash in Dubuque on Monday night. title: Iowa Senate Candidate Doug Butzier Killed in Plane Crash image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Iowa Senate Candidate Killed in Plane Crash by [Alex Rogers](/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 14, 2014 6:17 PM CUT by [Alex Rogers](/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 14, 2014 6:17 PM CUT Dr. Doug Butzier, a Libertarian candidate running for Senate in Iowa, died in a plane crash in Dubuque on Monday night. He died around 11 p.m. about one mile north of Dubuque Regional Airport, according to the local [ABC](http://www.kcrg.com/subject/news/plane-crash-in-key-west-20141014 "undefined") affiliate. He was the pilot and only one aboard the aircraft. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash of the Piper PA 46-310P, a six-seater, single-engine aircraft. Dr. Butzier grew up in Cedar Falls and lived in Dubuque working as the medical staff president at Mercy Medical Center, according to his [campaign website](http://www.drdougforiowa.com/#!aboutus/csgz "undefined"). He had two sons, and was running against Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley and Republican state Sen. Joni Ernst. Several high-profile U.S. politicians have died in plane crashes while running for Senate, including Senator Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.), Gov. Mel Carnahan (D-Mo.), Rep. Jerry Litton (D-Mo.) and Virginia GOP chairman Richard Obenshain. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3507067/iowa-senate-candidate-plane-crash-doug-butzier/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3507067/iowa-senate-candidate-plane-crash-doug-butzier/"},"headline":"Iowa Senate Candidate Killed in Plane Crash","datePublished":"2014-10-14T18:17:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:46:55.665Z","description":"Dr. Doug Butzier, a Libertarian candidate running for Senate in Iowa, died in a plane crash in Dubuque on Monday night.","url":"https://time.com/3507067/iowa-senate-candidate-plane-crash-doug-butzier/","keywords":["Congress","Death","Iowa","plane crash"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Rogers","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3507067/iowa-senate-candidate-plane-crash-doug-butzier/","name":"Iowa Senate Candidate Killed in Plane Crash"}}]}] ```