Campaign Almanac: Democrats Mathis, Bohannan launch first ads in Iowa U.S. House races

In the race to represent southeast Iowa in Congress, Democrat Christina Bohannan’s campaign plans to blanket the airwaves with a seven-figure ad buy in the region.

Bohannan, a Democrat from Iowa City, is facing first-term U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a Republican from Ottumwa, in Iowa’s newly drawn 1st Congressional District.

The Bohannan campaign’s first television ad features Bohannan walking past a trailer introducing herself. In the ad, Bohannan draws on her upbringing in a trailer, her father becoming sick from emphysema and struggling to pay for medications.

According to the campaign, the ad is the first in a $1.7 million campaign ad buy that will run through Election Day. Voters will start seeing the ad Tuesday.

“I grew up in a trailer just like this,” Bohannan says in the ad. “When my dad got sick they canceled his health insurance, forcing us to choose between paying for his medicine and everything else. No one should have to make that choice.”

She ends the ad saying “We gotta take on the drug companies, let Medicare negotiate for lower drug prices and cap the price of insulin.”

Bohannan has been critical of Miller-Meeks’ vote against the Inflation Reduction Act, which capped the price of Medicare-insured insulin and allows Medicare to negotiate prices of some high-cost drugs with pharmaceutical companies.

According to the most recent federal campaign finance disclosure reports — which covered through June 30 — Bohannan had about $1.2 million cash on hand. Miller-Meeks had about $2.6 million in her campaign coffers.

“We are excited to continue introducing Christina to voters in the 1st Congressional District,” Bohannan campaign manager Sarah Prineas said. “Going on the air this early and having the ability to stay on the air shows the continued strength of our campaign and the power of our grassroots fundraising.”

Mathis to launch first TV ad in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District campaign

Iowa Democratic state Sen. Liz Mathis held a watch party Monday night, providing supporters and media a sneak peek of her first campaign ad in the race to represent northeast Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District.

Mathis, of Hiawatha, is running against Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is serving her first term in the U.S. House after unseating first-term Democratic congresswoman Abby Finkenauer in 2020.

The TV ad, which will start airing Tuesday, focuses on Mathis’ nearly 30-year journalism career, showing old clips of Mathis delivering news reports and anchoring the news.

Mathis was a journalist and television anchor for 27 years before becoming a state senator.

In the ad, Mathis said she worked to tells Iowans the truth, and “I won’t stop now.”

The ad goes on to note rural Iowans are being hit harder by inflation, “but that Washington is making it harder.” Mathis calls out Washington politicians from both parties, stating Republicans need to stop the culture wars and Democrats need to lower costs for families.

“In a time of great divide in our nation, when many working families are struggling to make ends meet, it’s more important than ever to bring people together from both parties and focus on solutions,” Mathis said in a statement. “I have a track record of putting Iowans first and working across the aisle to get things done at the Iowa Statehouse, and I will do the same in Washington.”

The ads will run in the Cedar Rapids, Waterloo and Dubuque media markets. The budget for the first week of the media buy is $75,000, according to the Mathis campaign.

According to the most recent federal campaign finance disclosure reports — which covered through June 30 — Mathis had more than $1.7 million cash on hand to Hinson’s roughly $2 million.