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In campaign’s final days, Miller-Meeks, Bohannan turn attention to undecided voters
Iowa District 1 candidates’ Friday events focus on farm policy, economic issues
Nov. 2, 2024 5:30 am
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WASHINGTON, Iowa — The two candidates running for southeast Iowa’s closely contested U.S. House seat took a break Friday from their respective parties’ messaging on abortion rights and immigration to focus on farm policy and economic issues, as they work to turn out and sway undecided voters just four days out from Tuesday’s general election.
Democrat Christina Bohannan, a University of Iowa law professor and former state lawmaker, is running in a rematch to unseat Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who is seeking a third term representing Iowa's 1st Congressional District.
The 20-county district includes Iowa City, Davenport and rural southeast Iowa.
Bohannan visited local businesses Friday in Solon to rally support as Election Day nears. She also stopped at shops in downtown LeClaire and attended a rally in East Moline organized by local labor unions in support of Illinois Democratic U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen’s re-election.
Meanwhile, Miller-Meeks held get-out-the-vote rallies with Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig in Sigourney and Maquoketa and a roundtable discussion about agriculture policy, the farm bill, foreign ownership of U.S. farmland, and tax credit programs with Iowa farmers in Washington.
Prescription drug pricing
Bohannan said “it’s time for a change,” attacking Miller-Meeks’ record of voting against legislation that would lower prescription drug prices for seniors and prevent price gouging at the gas pump, while accepting campaign contributions from an insulin maker and other pharmaceutical and oil and gas companies.
She also criticized Miller-Meeks for her support of House Republicans' 2023 debt limit bill. The proposal included spending cuts that Democrats argued would slash funding for most federal law enforcement agencies and reduce federal grants for local law enforcement, and force Title I schools to lay off teachers, aides and other staff members despite widespread and ongoing teacher shortages. It didn't come to a vote in the Senate.
“We see that she has consistently been putting special interests and party bosses over the people of Iowa. Her record is not really one that she can run on,” Bohannan told The Gazette.
Washington County farmer Marc Knupp asked Miller-Meeks about robocalls he’s received in recent days calling her a “crook” for “taking hundreds of thousands of dollars” from drug companies and voting against the IRA’s provision to lower prescription drug costs.
“I don't think that's the way it is, but,” Knupp said, trailing off.
Miller-Meeks voted against the Inflation Reduction Act, which allows the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to negotiate the price of at least 50 brand-name drugs without generic competitors. That reduced price would then be available to both Medicare and private payers. The bill also capped the price of insulin at $35 a month for people with Medicare Part D coverage.
The Republican incumbent objected to the bill’s $740 billion price tag and said it does little to reduce inflation while directing unnecessary spending toward liberal priorities.
Miller-Meeks, an ophthalmologist, however broke ranks with her party to support the Affordable Insulin Now Act. The bill capped the cost of insulin at $35 for a monthly supply under Medicare and private health insurance.
“I don't want to be lectured about the money I brought in when the Democratic Party and my opponent has spent $15 million in this race,” Miller-Meeks said. “That's the reality. We've spent $10 million — me, the Congressional Leadership Fund and the NRCC. … This is like off the charts, and the lies that are being spread is beyond that.”
She added: “You know what? If I was bought out by people, I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't have been in Sigourney this morning. I wouldn't have been up in Monticello or in Maquoketa. I wouldn't have been in Prairie City at an EMS breakfast. I do the work. I do the work meeting people. … I travel the district extensively, I listen to people, and I put forward what's important.”
Tax cuts and farm bill
Miller-Meeks said she’s stood up to leadership, and “crossed the aisle in order to do things that are right for Iowa and Iowans.
“And I'll continue to do that,” she said. “But the amount of money that is being poured into this district to have an authoritarian regime take hold, I think, is, I've never seen anything like it in all the time I've run in Iowa. And the other thing I'm going to say is … they don't spend money and attack you if they're winning.”
Miller-Meeks said she will continue pushing to extend the Trump-era Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions that expire in 2025 to avoid increased tax brackets and negative impacts on farmers and small business owners.
Asked about progress on passing a new farm bill in a lame-duck Congress after the election, Miller-Meeks she will continue to pressure leadership to pass House Republicans’ version of the farm bill and work toward a timely resolution.
She also advocated for the extension and proper implementation of federal tax credits for carbon capture and sequestration projects and sustainable aviation fuel to support the soybean and biodiesel industries, and strengthening state and federal oversight of foreign ownership of farmland.
Bohannan emphasized the need to pass a farm bill to support farmers and the agricultural economy, including investments in sustainable farming, crop insurance, and low-interest loans. She also discussed the need to look more closely at the lack of competition in the input and processing markets to address the squeeze on farmers.
Bohannan talked of growing up in a mobile home in Florida and her father, who had emphysema, losing health insurance because of his preexisting condition, leaving her family in a bind to cover his medical expenses.
She said she is committed to lowering costs of health care, housing and everyday staples including groceries.
“You know, it is important that we bring costs down. And I understand that,” Bohannan said. “ … And I will fight to bring costs down. But, that is never going to happen as long as we have somebody like representative Miller-Meeks in office who is literally taking, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars from corporate PACs and corporate CEOs and then voting to keep their profits high rather than voting to bring down our costs.”
Race predicted to be a ‘toss-up’
The rematch between Miller-Meeks and Bohannan is among the most competitive, tightly contested races this election cycle. Nonpartisan election analyst the Cook Political Report lists it as one of 22 U.S. House matchups rated a "toss-up."
Roll Call this week also rated the race a toss-up, and added Miller-Meeks to its list of most vulnerable House incumbents. And Inside Elections moved the race in Bohannan’s favor to “tilt Democratic.”
Others are skeptical that Miller-Meeks faces a steep path to victory. Sabato’s Crystal Ball lists the 1st District as leaning Republican.
Both major political parties are bracing for potential narrow majorities come January, and the competitive swing district is expected to be one of a handful of races that could decide control of Congress.
Miller-Meeks has a history of close races. She won her first contest in 2020 by just six votes. On paper, she would appear to have the advantage over Bohannan.
Republicans hold a slight voter registration advantage by more than 20,000 voters in the district, and Republican former President Donald Trump carried the 20 counties that make up the district by 3 percentage points in 2020, and Miller-Meeks triumphed over Bohannan two years ago.
Bohannan, though, has increased name recognition this time around. She’s also outraised Miller-Meeks for five consecutive quarters, giving her the early edge in flooding the airwaves with her message and attacks on the GOP incumbent. Her campaign has also benefited from outside support from the campaign arm of House Democrats and national Democratic groups.
As Election Day approaches, Miller-Meeks has received more outside support from House Republican leadership PACs and national GOP groups to help nudge her to victory.
There’s also more excitement and turnout this election cycle than two years ago, with a contentious presidential race at the top of the ticket that’s expected to energize more voters than the 2022 midterms.
“I think the Miller-Meeks/Bohannan rematch is the one that is likely to be the closest and if there is an opportunity for a Democratic pickup that is the best opportunity,” David Peterson, professor of political science at Iowa State University said Friday during a taping of “Iowa Press” on Iowa PBS.
The two have attacked each others' records on abortion, support for law enforcement, immigration, and inflation, with each trying to paint the other as out of touch.
Bohannan has focused on abortion access, while Miller-Meeks has focused on immigration, border security and the economy.
Bohannan opposes abortion bans, such as the one that took effect in Iowa that bans abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy. Miller-Meeks is pro-life and said she supports abortion exceptions like those contained in Iowa’s law for cases of rape, incest and to save the life of the pregnant person.
On immigration, Bohannan supports the bipartisan reform plan that was shelved in the U.S. Senate due to objections from Trump. Miller-Meeks has downplayed the reform plan, and charged Bohannan and Democrats have not prioritized immigration policy until more voters demanded it.
Miller-Meeks said she supports immigration policies implemented by Trump that were ended under Democrat President Joe Biden, such as the “remain in Mexico” policy that required some asylum-seekers be sent back to Mexico during preliminary immigration proceedings.
Peterson said the abortion and immigration messaging will help motivate each candidate’s base of voters, but is skeptical either issue can single-handedly win the seat.
“Democrats across the country, really, (are) trying to make this an election about abortion because they know if it's about abortion, they're likely to win,” Peterson said. “That has been the result post-Dobbs across this country, even in the most conservative of states.
“And the flip side is for Republicans and conservatives the issue that is probably their best issue is immigration. And so, I think a lot of it is going to come down to the weight that voters place on these two.”
Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com
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