Mariannette Miller-Meeks re-elected to Congress

First-term Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks won her re-election bid Tuesday night against state Rep. Christina Bohannan, a Democrat from Iowa City, the AP projected.

With 17 out of 20 counties reporting, Miller-Meeks was leading Bohannan by 7 percentage points.

Miller-Meeks won her first election by the slimmest of margins — by six votes over Democrat Rita Hart in 2020 after months of recounts.

Miller-Meeks, 67, told her supporters at the Rhythm City Casino in Davenport on Tuesday night that her margin this time “feels a lot better.”

The Bohannan camp held its watch party at Big Grove Brewery in Iowa City.

During her re-election campaign, Miller-Meeks has hammered on the national GOP message of reining in federal Democrats' spending in an effort to reduce inflation, support for law enforcement and tamping down crime. She's also hit on border security and touted bans on transgender girls competing in girls sports, and has called for investigations into, among other topics, FBI conduct and the origin of the coronavirus.

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, she also claims a second residence in LeClaire, which is in Scott County and in the 1st Congressional District.

Bohannan focused her campaign on access to health care, abortion and public education as well as her poor background and being the first in her family to graduate from college. She studied engineering and law at public universities and is a University of Iowa professor teaching First Amendment and competition law.

Bohannan 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 woman.

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.

Bohannan has also promoted endorsements of two former congressmen — Democrat Dave Loebsack and moderate Republican Jim Leach — as evidence she'd work across the aisle.

In interviews with voters Tuesday in Davenport, several cited high prices of gas and food and crime as important to their vote in the race. Many said they weren't familiar with the candidates and voted based on party messaging.

Jennifer Villinis, 62, of Davenport, said she voted a straight Republican ticket, even writing in names for races that didn't feature a Republican. She said she hopes the GOP can win control of Congress, bring down prices and bolster law enforcement to reduce crime.

Michelle Spiegel, 45, of Davenport, said she typically votes Democratic. Issues important to her are the environment and access to health care, especially contraception.

From January 2021 to Oct. 19, Miller-Meeks raised about $4 million in her re-election bid, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Bohannan during that time period raised $2.9 million.

The new 1st Congressional District covers 20 counties in southeast Iowa: Jackson, Clinton, Scott, Jones, Cedar, Muscatine, Louisa, Des Moines, Johnson, Washington, Henry, Lee, Iowa, Keokuk, Jefferson, Van Buren, Mahaska, Marion, Warren, and Jasper counties.