Campaign Almanac: Emily’s List endorses Christina Bohannan for Congress

Emily’s List, a national abortion rights group, is lending its support to Christina Bohannan in Iowa.

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Bohannan in making her second bid for Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, which covers 20 counties in southeast Iowa, including Johnson County.

Bohannan, a University of Iowa law professor and former state representative, is challenging Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks.

“The contrast couldn’t be more clear,” the organization’s interim president, Jessica Mackler, wrote in a prepared statement. “Mariannette Miller-Meeks is an anti-abortion extremist who’s spent her time in Congress working to take away Iowans’ rights, and Bohannan is a pro-choice champion who will always defend our fundamental reproductive freedom.”

To date, Bohannan is the only Democrat to announce a bid for the 1st District. In 2022, Miller-Meeks beat Bohannan by 7 percentage points after Miller-Meeks was first elected to Congress in 2020 with six-vote margin over Democrat Rita Hart.

Bohannan has indicated she plans to focus on abortion access in her election bid. In previous interviews, she said that she wants to return to the standard set forth in Roe v. Wade before the ruling was overturned in June 2022.

Miller-Meeks has said in previous interviews she supports a federal ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. She has co-sponsored a proposal that recognizes life begins at the moment of fertilization.

The Emily’s List announcement comes following voters in Ohio this week approving a measure to put abortion rights in the state constitution. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear won a second term after hammering his opponent on his support of the state’s abortion ban. And a Democrat won a Pennsylvania Supreme Court seat after campaigning on a pledge to uphold abortion rights.

3rd District Democrat raises funds, gains endorsements

Lanon Baccam, a Democrat who announced his candidacy for Iowa's 3rd Congressional District this week, earned the endorsement of top Iowa Democrats and raised $251,000 in the first 24 hours of his campaign.

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The endorsements signal unifying support from Democrats around Baccam in the highly competitive south-central Iowa district. Zach Nunn, a Republican, currently represents the district in his first term.

Baccam is a former U.S. Department of Agriculture official and Iowa National Guard veteran.

Baccam announced endorsements from 30 Iowa Democrats this week. They include ones from U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand, former Senate Minority Leader Zach Wahls, House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, former U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack and Tom Miller, former Iowa attorney general

Ron DeSantis announces 24 new Iowa endorsements

Florida Gov. and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis announced 24 new Iowa endorsements on Friday, following this week’s endorsement from Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds

Greg Ganske, who represented Iowa's 4th District in Congress from 1995 to 2003, is among the endorsements.

"He is a fit, mentally sharp, energetic candidate and would be eligible for a second term, unlike President Donald Trump," Ganske said. "The country is weary of the chaos that would mark another Trump term. In my opinion, DeSantis is the best Republican candidate to win the presidency."

Other people on the list of new endorsers include Craig Hill, past president of the Iowa Farm Bureau; Bob Hager, former state representative from Allamakee County; and Jeff Madlom, Delaware County supervisor

The full list can be found on the DeSantis campaign website.