U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ Davenport apartment linked to donor

The Davenport apartment that Iowa Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks claims as her voting address — and which is the subject of a congressional ethics complaint — is partially owned by a prominent campaign contributor and member of the Iowa Board of Regents.

Miller-Meeks, who has a home in Ottumwa outside of the district she represents, lists a Davenport apartment on Jersey Ridge Road as her primary residence on her voter registration and affidavit of candidacy filed with the Iowa Secretary State. The apartment is part of a large complex called Indian Ridge Apartment Homes managed by Barker Apartments.

  Buy Photo

Regent David Barker is part of the group that owns the complex.

Barker is a partner in Barker Financial, which owns, manages and develops apartments and other real estate in Eastern Iowa. The most recent Scott County real estate records show Barker signed a “modification of mortgage” in April 2015 as manager of Indian Ridge Apts. LLC and as president of Indian Ridge Apartments Cooperative, the property owner. The Iowa Secretary of State’s Office also lists Barker as the registered agent for Indian Ridge Apartments Cooperative.

  Buy Photo

Sizable donations to Miller-Meeks

Federal Election Commission filings show sizable campaign contributions by Barker to Miller-Meeks’ campaign, joint fundraising committee and leadership PAC. In total, Barker has contributed $52,900 to her various fundraising arms since 2020, FEC filings show. He also has donated to other Republican campaigns in and outside of Iowa.

In June, he contributed $6,600 to Miller-Meeks’ 2024 re-election campaign, the maximum allowed by individual donors per candidate per election cycle. Federal contribution limits allow individual donors to give up to $3,300 per candidate between the primary and general elections — or up to $9,900 total if a race leads to a runoff.

Barker was appointed in 2019 by GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds to the unpaid board that governs Iowa’s three public universities. His term expires on April 30. He also serves as treasurer of the Republican Party of Iowa and on the party’s state central committee.

Barker, speaking Monday to The Gazette by phone, said he is not involved in the day-to-day operations at Indian Ridge Apartments and was unaware the Republican incumbent was living there. He said the company in past years has rented to staffers from various campaigns.

“We rent apartments to anyone that wants one, if they meet our qualifications of course. (Miller-Meeks’ Democratic challenger) Christina Bohannan is welcome to rent an apartment there also,” Barker said.

Cindy Snyder, Indian Ridge property manager, said Miller-Meeks is a resident there, pays the market rate for the unit and has paid in full every month since moving in.

Barker said he had no comment on the ethics complaint lodged against Miller-Meeks, which alleges public documents show she still primarily resides in her Ottumwa home.

Miller-Meeks’ campaign said the congresswoman's residence is in Davenport, and chose it for easy access to Interstate 74 and her official Davenport office.

“She pays the same rent anyone else would be charged,” the campaign said in an emailed statement. “Bohannan is pushing this story to distract from her Sarasota property and her own hypocrisy: complaining about money in politics while seeking donations from out-of-state mega donors.”

The campaign called the ethics complaint “frivolous” in a statement provided last month to KCRG-TV, and said Miller-Meeks and her husband “retain their property in Ottumwa just as Christina Bohannan also retains out-of-state property in Sarasota, Florida.”

According to a 2023 financial disclosure report filed with the Clerk of the House, Bohannan owns a condo in Sarasota valued at between $500,001 and $1 million. She reported earning between $15,001 and $50,000 in rental income from it that year. Her campaign did not immediately return a message seeking comment Tuesday evening.

Miller-Meeks campaign did not answer other questions, including the amount of rent paid for the apartment, how often she stays at the Davenport apartment and how she splits her time between the apartment and her home in Ottumwa.

Members of Congress not required to live in their district

  Buy Photo

Asked about the ethics complaint filed against her, Miller-Meeks told reporters Saturday at a campaign event in Walcott: “I have a residence in Scott County and when they changed the district lines, I said at the time that I had property in Wapello County, 50 acres, and I wasn’t going to sell my property in Wapello County.

“As most people know, the majority of a Congress member’s time is spent in Washington D.C.,” she added.

A LeClaire resident has asked the federal Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate the GOP incumbent’s voting address, noting multiple public records, including tax records and campaign contributions made by the congresswoman, indicate her primary address is in Wapello County.

After the 2020 census, Miller-Meeks' Ottumwa home was redistricted into Iowa's 3rd Congressional District, which includes the Des Moines metro and rural south central Iowa. Miller-Meeks said at the time she would not sell her house in Ottumwa but would take up residence in Iowa’s newly drawn 1st District, which mostly overlapped with the district she represented before the 2020 redistricting.

In October 2022, Miller-Meeks changed her voter registration from her Ottumwa address to the address of the LeClaire home of Republican state Sen. Chris Cournoyer.

According to Scott County voting records, Miller-Meeks voted in the 2022 general election in Scott County. Just before the June 4 primary this year, Miller-Meeks changed her voting address to the Davenport apartment and voted in the primary.

The most recent property tax statement shows that Miller-Meeks and her husband received a homestead credit for their property in Ottumwa the past two tax periods. Miller-Meeks also reported in congressional disclosure reports in 2022 and 2023 that she has a mortgage on her "personal residence in Ottumwa,“ and campaign contributions list her Ottumwa address as her mailing address.

Federal rules don't require members of Congress to live in the district they represent, just in the same state. Iowa law, though, requires voters to register to vote at their primary address and vote in the county where they primarily reside.

In her complaint, LeClaire resident Joyce Kuehl alleges Miller-Meeks has violated state law and voted illegally in multiple elections.

The complaint is being reviewed by the Office of Congressional Ethics, a non-partisan entity charged with investigating alleged misconduct against members, officers and employees of the U.S. House.

‘Nothing nefarious about it’

An FEC spokesperson declined to comment on the issue of Miller-Meeks renting an apartment linked to a donor, and referred a reporter to federal campaign reporting rules.

“People rent properties all the time from people they know,” said Donna Hoffman, a political-science professor at the University of Northern Iowa. “So long as she’s paying fair market for the apartment, and as long as its publicly disclosed and aboveboard, there’s nothing nefarious about it.”

University of Iowa political-science professor Tim Hagle said the campaign donor connection may raise suspicion in voters’ minds, “especially given if there’s an ethics complaint being looked into.”

He said the rental agreement “is certainly worth looking into” to ensure “there’s no sweetheart deal going on.”

Hagle and Hoffman said Democrats will likely use the issue to sharpen their attacks against Miller-Meeks ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

Both said it’s difficult to determine how the issue may sway persuadable no-party voters without more details of the rental arrangement in what’s predicted to be a close race that could be decided by a tight margin.

“This is not a new issue about her residency in the district,” Hoffman added. “This is kind of a known issue about the questions of her residency.”

Hoffman said it’s unlikely the Office of Congressional Ethics will issue a finding over the ethics complaint “absent a legal finding out of the state of Iowa.”

Iowa law permits residents to bring challenges to voter registration at the county level, though no challenges had been brought forward about Miller-Meeks’ address, Scott County Auditor Kerri Tompkins said in an email to The Gazette late last month.

Thomas Geyer of the Quad City Times contributed to this report.

Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com