Derald Hafner says economics is central to his run.

The candidate against U.S. Rep. Brad Miller in the Democratic primary said he was motivated to run by the failure of federal economic policy.

"We've lost 40 percent of our dollar in the last six years," he said. "I don't know how anyone can be happy with that."

He said he was a Republican until recently, but did not agree with the Patriot Act and No Child Left Behind.

Hafner, 63, is retired from the material handling business and runs a small organic farm in Franklinton where he grows beef and chicken. He has a bachelor's degree in economics from Graceland College in Iowa.

U.S. Rep. Brad Miller has an opponent in the Democratic primary.

Derald Haffner of Franklinton filed today to run for the 13th Congressional District seat held by Miller since 2002.

According to his campaign Web site, Haffner wants to dismantle the Federal Reserve, repeal No Child Left Behind and the Patriot Act, end the federal income tax, encourage local food production and avoid bailing out mortgage companies. He's pro-life and against gun control.

"It's a slippery slope that gives up freedoms to answer 'needs,'" he writes. "Our founding fathers in crafting the constitution clearly understood that rights come from God. Government is instituted to secure rights."

In 2007, Hafner served on the board of the National Organization for Raw Materials, an organization that believes in a "natural economic law" and opposes Keynesian economics.

Hafner's e-mail does not work, however, and the phone number listed on his Web site is for directory assistance in Massachusetts.