Democratic U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin cruised to a fifth term in office Tuesday by defeating Republican Christopher Reed, a Marion businessman who was making his first bid for public office.

Harkin, 68, has been in Congress since 1974 and has become arguably the most successful Democratic politician in the state’s history.

With 83 percent of the state’s precincts reporting, Harkin had 62 percent to 38 percent for Reed.

“I think the message voters sent was they want change, they don’t want the status quo and they want Democrats to take the lead, but they also want us to reach across the aisle,” Harkin said in an interview with The Associated Press. “They want us to set the agenda.”

He built a huge edge in both polling and finances but still campaigned in the state intensely, saying he wasn’t taking anything for granted. That intensity was rewarded with an easy election and a short wait to claim his prize.

Harkin, of Cumming, won election to Congress in the Watergate election of 1974 and represented a southwest Iowa district for 10 years before winning a Senate seat in 1984.

In 1992, Harkin briefly sought the Democratic presidential nomination, but he quickly dropped from the race after a poor showing in early primaries.

His lengthy tenure in the Senate has made him a force to be reckoned with on a variety of issues, and he now heads the Senate Agriculture Committee. He used that post this year to shape a new farm bill that will lead to billions in subsidy payments flowing into Iowa and other farm states. The same measure includes nutrition programs, as well as incentives for farmers to improve conservation practices.