116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Campaign Almanac: House GOP super PAC makes major ad buy to shore up Iowa seats
Also, a new Iowa Poll shows Gov. Kim Reynolds’ lowest-ever job approval ratings
The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
House Republicans’ chief super PAC announced more than $4 million in new ad reservations in Iowa as it seeks to shore up additional GOP seats and up the pressure in competitive congressional districts that could determine which party controls the U.S. House next year.
The Congressional Leadership Fund, the super PAC endorsed by House Speaker Mike Johnson and House GOP leadership, on Tuesday announced planned additions to its fall ad reservations for Iowa Republican incumbent U.S. Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn, according to information shared with The Gazette.
Miller-Meeks is running for re-election to a third term representing Iowa’s 1st District. The 20-county district includes Iowa City, Davenport and rural southeast Iowa. She faces Christina Bohannan, a Democratic former state lawmaker and University of Iowa law professor.
Nunn is running for re-election to a second term representing Iowa’s 3rd District, which includes the Des Moines metro and rural south central Iowa. He faces Democratic challenger Lanon Baccam.
The Congressional Leadership Fund said it is laying down $2.3 million in ad spending for Miller-Meeks in the Cedar Rapids, Davenport and Des Moines media markets as part of an overall $18 million in new ad reservations nationwide. This is the group's first ad spending on the race in the 2024 election cycle.
Nunn will see another $1.9 million in ad spending from the super PAC. That's in addition to a $2.7 million ad buy in the 3rd District that the PAC announced in May as part of $141 million reserved across 37 media markets nationwide.
The new influx of spending is meant to help counter that of outside Democrat groups. Democrats have already poured millions of dollars into the two races that political forecasters say “lean Republican.” Republicans currently hold all four of Iowa's congressional seats.
The group spent more than $1.3 million to support Miller-Meeks' re-election bid to a second term in 2022 and more than $3 million to get her elected in 2020. It spent more than $1.6 million to help Nunn unseat Democrat Cindy Axne in 2022.
The swing districts have a history of close elections, especially in presidential years. Miller-Meeks won by just six votes, defeating Democrat Rita Hart in 2020. Nunn won by just over 2,000 votes in 2022 over Axne.
The latest Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll conducted earlier this month found that more likely Iowa voters prefer a Republican congressional candidate over a Democrat, with the exception of Iowa’s 1st District. The poll found 49 percent of likely voters preferred a Democrat, while 46 percent preferred a Republican. Five percent were unsure. It marks a shift from the June Iowa Poll when likely voters in all four districts favored a GOP candidate.
In the 3rd District, the Iowa Poll found 52 percent of likely voters favor a Republican, while 44 percent preferred a Democrat. Four percent said they were unsure.
Democrats buy ads targeting Miller-Meeks on abortion
A new campaign ad put out by national Democrats challenges Eastern Iowa Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks on abortion policy.
Iowa’s 1st Distirct election between the incumbent Miller-Meeks and repeat challenger and Democrat Christina Bohannan is considered by national elections forecasters one of the more competitive in the country.
The new ad from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which began airing Tuesday in the Davenport, Cedar Rapids, and Des Moines media markets, features Pauline Ethel, an Iowa nurse, talking about Republican policies that restrict access abortions.
A former practicing ophthalmologist and licensed physician, Miller-Meeks has applauded the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, putting abortion regulations back into the hands of the states. Iowa has since passed a state law that bans abortions once cardiac activity can be detected, at roughly six weeks of pregnancy — often before the person is aware of the pregnancy.
In Congress, Miller-Meeks cosponsored the 2021-22 Life At Conception Act that states life begins at fertilization, banning all abortions. It has no exceptions for rape, incest or the woman’s life, and does not spell out protections for fertility treatments.
Miller-Meeks did not sign on as a sponsor of the resolution in the current Congress. She has said she supports a national 15-week ban on abortion with exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother.
Iowa Poll: Reynolds’ job approval hits new low
Forty-five percent of Iowans — a new low — approve of the job Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is doing, according to the latest Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll.
The 45 percent job approval rating is Reynolds’ lowest in the Iowa Poll since she became governor in 2017. Her high-water mark was 59 percent in February of 2019.
In the poll, 50 percent of Iowans disapprove of Reynolds’ job performance; that is the highest such mark in an Iowa Poll during her tenure.
The latest Iowa Poll, conducted by Selzer and Co., surveyed 811 Iowans between Sept. 8 and Sept. 11. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
The latest Iowa Poll also surveyed Iowans for their approval of a couple other prominent, statewide elected officials.
According to the poll, 39 percent of Iowans approve of the job being done by Republican Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, 29 percent disapprove, and 32 percent say they are not sure.
Iowa Auditor Rob Sand, the lone statewide elected Democrat, retains the highest approval rating in the poll: 53 percent.
Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau
Daily Newsletters