Republican Miller-Meeks wins reelection after recount in close Iowa congressional race
DES MOINES, Iowa — Republican Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks won her re-election bid on Wednesday after a recount confirmed her lead, allowing her party to expand its slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and maintain control of all four of Iowa’s congressional seats.
Miller-Meeks said in a post on the social platform “very honored” after she defeated Democrat Christina Bohannan in a 2022 rematch, when Miller-Meeks won by 7 percentage points. The margin was much smaller this year: Miller-Meeks’ lead over Bohannan was less than a percentage point, or less than 1,000 votes.
“I now look forward to getting back to work in Washington to lower gas, grocery and drug prices, secure the border and help farmers,” said Miller-Meeks, who represents the 1st District. which includes the eastern part of the state and part of south-central Iowa, including Johnson County, home of the University of Iowa in Iowa City.
Miller-Meeks earned a first term in Congress representing Iowa’s 2nd District when she defeated Democrat Rita Hart by just six votes in 2020.
The Associated Press called this year’s race Wednesday at 4:02 PM ET. Miller-Meeks had previously declared victory, but the AP had not yet called the race because the margin was close enough to trigger a recount.
Bohannan’s campaign on November 14 requested a recountas any candidate may do, saying in a statement that the recount will ensure “every voter is heard.” She Congratulations Miller-Meeks in a post on X after the vote counting was completed.
“While this is not the outcome we wanted, I am so proud of our campaign,” she wrote. “We exceeded all expectations and turned a district that many experts thought was unwinnable into one of the closest races in the country.”
A request was made for a recount in each of the district’s twenty counties. Because the margin was less than one percentage point, the state — not the candidate — pays for the costs associated with the recount.
Miller-Meeks’ campaign accused Bohannan and other Democrats of being “election deniers,” and Republicans have said Bohannan is wasting taxpayer money.
“This is a delaying tactic to thwart the will of the people,” the Miller-Meeks campaign said in a Nov. 14 statement. “A recount will not meaningfully change the outcome of this race as the congressman’s lead is mathematically impossible to overcome.”
Republican incumbents retained Iowa’s three other congressional seats and maintained GOP control of Iowa’s entire congressional delegation. The 2022 sweep represented the first time in three decades that Iowa had an all-Republican delegation, symbolic of the sharp shift to the right in the state not long after former President Barack Obama swept Iowa in 2008 and again in 2012.
Obama won with solid support from eastern counties along the Mississippi River, which have largely backed Trump since then and also backed Miller-Meeks in her district.
Two competitive congressional races in Iowa this year — the 1st and 3rd Districts — brought millions of dollars in paid advertising to the state from national campaign arms for Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives.
Zach Nun fought off a challenge from Democrat Lanon Baccam in the 3rd District, which includes much of the Des Moines metro area.
Republican incumbents Ashley Hinson in the 2nd district and Randy Feenstra won decisively in the 4th district. Hinson defeated Democrat Sarah Corkery. Feenstra defeated Democrat Ryan Melton.