Democrat Christina Bohannan eyeing rematch against Miller-Meeks in Iowa U.S. House race

Iowa City Democrat and former state lawmaker Christina Bohannan, who last year unsuccessfully ran to unseat Iowa Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, will make “an exciting announcement” Tuesday evening in Davenport, a former campaign spokesperson said.

Republican Party of Iowa Chair Jeff Kaufmann issued a statement Friday citing unconfirmed reports that Bohannan plans to announce her second bid for Congress in the 2024 elections.

"At least she can probably count on another Nancy Pelosi endorsement to really nail the coffin, again," Kaufmann said in his statement.

While Bohannan has not officially announced a second bid for Iowa’s 1st Congressional District seat, the Republican Party of Iowa pointed to an Aug. 11 post on Blog for Iowa, which promotes itself as a “resource for Iowa’s progressive community.” The post references an email request to sign a petition with a footer saying “Paid for by Christina Bohannan for Congress.”

The 20-county 1st District includes Davenport, Iowa City, Burlington and Indianola.

Bohannan lost by nearly 7 percentage points, or more than 20,000 votes, to Miller-Meeks, who won re-election to a second term in November. In 2020, Miller-Meeks won her first election to Congress by the slimmest of margins — by six votes over Democrat Rita Hart after months of recounts.

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Miller-Meeks has hammered a national GOP message of reining in federal spending in an effort to reduce inflation, support for law enforcement and ramped up border security. She has made trips to the U.S.-Mexico border with GOP colleagues to meet with Border Patrol agents.

The second-term Iowa congresswoman also has touted bans on transgender girls competing in girls sports, and has called for investigations into FBI conduct and the origin of COVID-19.

Miller-Meeks, who directed the Iowa Department of Public Health from 2010 through 2013 and was a practicing ophthalmologist in Ottumwa, has been critical of pandemic school closures in 2020 and proposals to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for schools and large employers.

Miller-Meeks primarily resides in Ottumwa, but since district boundaries were redrawn after the 2020 census, has also claimed a second residence in LeClaire that belongs to Iowa state Sen. Chris Cournoyer. Miller-Meeks was registered to vote last year at Cournoyer’s home in LeClaire -- which is in Scott County and in the 1st Congressional District -- according to records from the Scott County Auditor’s office, the Quad-City Times previously reported.

"We welcome former state Rep. Bohannan into the 2024 campaign,“ Miller-Meeks’ campaign spokesman Eric Woolson told The Gazette. ”Voters who expect common-sense leadership rejected her in 2022 because her liberal views are completely out of step with the majority of the district — and nothing has changed since then.“

Woolson said the campaign is confident voters will appreciate Miller-Meeks’ efforts to “control inflation, create jobs and fair trade opportunities, defend our values and strengthen our national security."

Bohannan, a University of Iowa professor teaching First Amendment and competition law, focused her last campaign on access to health care, abortion and public education. She campaigned on her support for codifying Roe v. Wade and criticized Miller-Meeks for co-sponsoring a proposal that would declare that personhood begins at conception. Miller-Meeks has said she supports a national 15-week ban on abortion with exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother.

Bohannan also campaigned on lowering prescription drug prices and criticized Miller-Meeks for voting against a measure in the Inflation Reduction Act that would have capped the price of insulin. She also used the endorsements of two former Iowa congressmen — Democrat Dave Loebsack and moderate Republican Jim Leach — as evidence she'd work across party lines to help Iowans.

Miller-Meeks had more than $1.1 million cash on hand for the reporting period ending June 30, according to federal campaign filings. That compared with about $25,000 cash on hand left over from Bohannan’s 2022 campaign.

The seat, along with Iowa’s 3rd District seat held by Republican U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn of Bondurant, are key targets for congressional Democrats in their effort to reclaim the House majority. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee included the two Iowa GOP incumbents on its list of 33 competitive Republican-held or open districts across the country its deems “in play” for the 2024 election cycle.

Sarah Watson of the Quad-City Times contributed to this report.

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