U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks beats Democrat Christina Bohannan in Iowa's 1st District
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Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks prevailed in her reelection battle in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District against Iowa City Democrat Christina Bohannan on Tuesday, winning by thousands of more votes than the historically slim six-vote margin she had in 2020.
Miller-Meeks, 67, is a first-term U.S. representative from Ottumwa, a former Iowa state senator and director of the Iowa Department of Public Health. Bohannan, 51, is a first-term Iowa state representative and University of Iowa law professor.
Miller-Meeks led with 53.4% of the vote when the Associated Press called the race after 11 p.m. with 93.2% of election night results reported. Election night results are unofficial.
"My message to Iowans is that this is their victory. They've elected someone to Congress who is going to go there to serve them, be attentive to their needs and work to make sure we can get gasoline prices down at the pump, make food more affordable and get prescription drugs prices down," Miller-Meeks said.
Miller-Meeks told the Press-Citizen she thinks 1st District voters knew they had a congresswoman who worked hard for them and was attentive to the suffering that she said many have gone through because of the policies of President Joe Biden and his administration. She said she hopes to be added to the U.S. House Energy and Commerce committee because she thinks she can help Iowans a great deal if she serves there.
"It's great to be reelected and great not to have a recount," Miller-Meeks said.
Preliminary results showed Miller-Meeks made enough gains in key counties compared to the coalition of voters that narrowly carried her to victory in 2020 over Democrat Rita Hart. Miller-Meeks was leading in Scott County, which went for Hart in 2020 and contains the district's largest city in Davenport.
Bohannan did not concede defeat, but did address a large room of supporters at an election night watch party at Big Grove Brewery in Iowa City.
“All the votes are not yet counted … but here’s what I’ll tell you. I’ll accept the results of this election. Whatever they are. Because in a democracy that’s what we do," Bohannan said.
With 93.7% of results posted on Tuesday night, Bohannan trails Miller-Meeks in all but one of the 20 counties in the southeastern Iowa district. She carried Johnson County, where she lives, with 71.5% of the vote and trails narrowly in Scott and Jefferson counties.
Control of Congress is still up in the air as of Tuesday night, but Miller-Meeks said, if Republicans do take control of the U.S. House of Representatives, the first priority should be to reinvigorate the country's energy independence, the oil and gas sector in particular, to bring down prices. She said Republicans should also work to lower what she said is unnecessary government spending, like holding off on hiring more agents at the Internal Revenue Service.
Iowa’s newly drawn 1st Congressional District covers much of southeast Iowa, including Iowa City, Clinton and Davenport, and stretches west to the suburbs of Des Moines in Warren and Jasper counties. The district favors Republicans as former President Donald Trump carried it in 2020, but it was considered more favorable to Democrats compared to the old 2nd Congressional District where Miller-Meeks won by a slim margin.
Miller-Meeks said it was a goal of her campaign to win big in Scott County and pointed to the current margin with just over 94% of the votes reported where she leads Bohannan with 52.8% of the vote.
Miller-Meeks ran a campaign focused on the rising costs of gas, goods and services due to inflation and said often she wanted to work on energy policy more if she was re-elected. Her campaign, instead of critiquing Bohannan, took aim at Biden and left attacks of her actual opponent to the Iowa Republican Party and the Congressional Leadership Fund.
George Shillcock is the Press-Citizen's local government and development reporter covering Iowa City and Johnson County. He can be reached at (319) 214-5039, GShillcock@press-citizen.com and on Twitter @ShillcockGeorge
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Mariannette Miller-Meeks wins reelection, beating Christina Bohannan
