Campaign Almanac: Iowa Rep. Heather Hora announces re-election bid

Iowa Rep. Heather Hora, R-Washington, announced she will seek re-election to a second term.

Hora was elected in 2022, besting Democrat Eileen Beran of Kalona for the two-year term to represent House District 92, which covers all of Washington County and parts of Johnson County.

Co-owner and vice president of HK Farms Inc., a family farming corporation specializing in corn, soybeans and hogs, Hora serves as the vice chair of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee and as a member of the House Agriculture, Education, Natural Resources, and Veterans Affairs committees.

"I am proud of the work I have been part of during my time here,“ Hora said in a statement. ”It is an honor to get to represent House District 92 and the State as a whole. Getting to work on legislation my constituents care most about has been very fulfilling. I look forward to continuing this work in the Iowa House.”

Hora was endorsed by Gov. Kim Reynolds ahead of the 2022 June primary for her support of Reynolds’ push to create taxpayer-funded scholarships to pay for private school tuition. Her other priorities include property tax relief and strengthening programs intended to grow the state’s workforce, like Future Ready Iowa.

Bohannan endorsed by Planned Parenthood Action Fund

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Planned Parenthood Action Fund this week announced it is endorsing Iowa City Democrat Christina Bohannan’s congressional campaign.

Bohannan, the University of Iowa law professor and former state representative, is making her second bid for Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, which covers 20 counties in Southeast Iowa, including Johnson County. The district is currently represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, of Ottumwa.

Planned Parenthood Action Fund, in its announcement, said Bohannan has been unwavering in her support for reproductive freedom and is putting it at the forefront of her campaign.

The abortion rights group said Miller-Meeks has repeatedly attacked Iowans’ reproductive freedom, including co-sponsoring a national abortion ban with no exceptions for rape, incest, or the woman’s life, supporting legislation that could punish doctors, and voting to allow states to ban abortion by blocking consideration of the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would have codified a federal right to abortion.

Miller-Meeks has said she supports a national 15-week ban on abortion with exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother. She also co-sponsored the Life At Conception Act, which would criminalize abortion but would not allow the woman having the procedure to be prosecuted. It has no exceptions for rape, incest or the woman’s life.

Bohannan told The Gazette last month she supports a return to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturned in 2022 that protected a woman's right to an abortion prior to the viability of the fetus.

“I’m honored to have the support of Planned Parenthood in the critical fight to protect reproductive freedoms,” Bohannan said in statement. “There is an assault on abortion access happening here in Iowa. … As a mother, this fight is personal. Iowans can always count on me to stand up for their freedoms in Congress.”

Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau