Iowa's Mariannette-Miller Meeks has a primary challenger, Davenport's David Pautsch

Galen Bacharier, Des Moines Register
·2 min read

A Republican businessman and minister from Davenport says he's running for Iowa's 1st Congressional District, launching a primary challenge to U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks in southeast Iowa.

David Pautsch, the longtime organizer of the annual Quad Cities Prayer Breakfast, told the Des Moines Register he was running for the seat out of a desire to expand the role of faith in government and to oust Miller-Meeks, whom he criticized as "out of step" with the Republican Party. His candidacy was first reported by the Quad-City Times.

"She just doesn't act like a team player," Pautsch said in an interview. "She's off doing her own thing. Well, I don't know if she's a Democrat or Republican. I'd like to find out."

David Pautsch
David Pautsch

Miller-Meeks came under fire from conservatives last month for opposing U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan's bid for speaker of the house, breaking from a majority of Republicans in the chamber and saying she received death threats as a result.

More: 'Suck it up, buttercup.' Fiery Miller-Meeks defends speaker vote that spurred death threats

Pautsch criticized that vote, as well as her support for an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

"You can go through a whole laundry list of things where she was more supportive of Biden than she was the Republican Party," he said. "That's pretty clear, and the information is all out there."

Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, walks from a closed door Republican conference meeting at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. Miller-Meeks, who voted against Jordan on the second ballot, said she received "credible death threats and a barrage of threatening calls."
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, walks from a closed door Republican conference meeting at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. Miller-Meeks, who voted against Jordan on the second ballot, said she received "credible death threats and a barrage of threatening calls."

At her annual fundraiser event, Miller-Meeks declared that she was "never going to quit fighting for Iowa," and "if you think you can intimidate me, go … suck it up, buttercup!" A spokesperson for her campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Pautsch, who has led the annual prayer breakfast in the Quad Cities since 1995, said central to his candidacy was to seek God's guidance in governing, and "to urge people to seek the help or love God."

The most recent breakfast in September featured author Eric Metaxas and Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who has spread conspiracies about the 2020 presidential election and is a prominent campaign surrogate for Donald Trump.

"We can no longer be embarrassed talking about God as though somehow it's improper," he said. "This whole business of the separation of church and state is so bogus."

David Pautsch
David Pautsch

Miller-Meeks did not adhere "to some of the basic principles of involvement of God," Pautsch argued, saying it was "not part of her mentality."

Miller-Meeks won the 1st district in 2022 with 53% of the vote, defeating Democrat Christina Bohannan. Bohannan is again running for the seat.

Galen Bacharier covers politics for the Register. Reach him at gbacharier@registermedia.com or (573) 219-7440, and follow him on Twitter @galenbacharier.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa Republican congresswoman will face primary challenge from right