Bohannan announces campaign three-peat

I.C. Democrat will run again to challenge Rep. Miller-Meeks

By Tom Barton,

Gazette Des Moines Bureau

Southeast Iowa voters could likely see a backto- back-to-back rematch for what’s expected to yet again be among the most tightly contested races in the country.

Iowa City Democrat and University of Iowa law professor Christina Bohannan hopes the third time will be the charm, as she runs again to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks in Iowa’s 1st District.

“I am running to put Iowans first,” she told The Gazette ahead of her official campaign announcement Tuesday. “People are so tired of the ugliness and the political division and the games that Washington, D.C., politicians are playing.”

She criticized Miller-Meeks for prioritizing party interests over Iowa’s needs, citing the GOP incumbent’s support of President Donald Trump’s budget reconciliation bill and tariff policies.

“Rep. Miller-Meeks has not been putting Iowans first. In fact, she has done exactly the opposite over and over again,” Bohannan said. “ … The fact that she has had three terms in Congress, three chances to do right by the people of Iowa, and she’s failed. Her time is up. It’s time to finish what we started, and to elect somebody who’s going to put Iowa first.”

Miller-Meeks voted for Trump’s “one big beautiful bill,” which includes trillions in tax cuts and reductions in spending on social programs like Medicaid and food assistance by tightening eligibility requirements and expanding work requirements for ablebodied Americans with some exceptions to target waste and abuse.

It also would roll back tax incentives for clean energy, increase spending for border security and immigration enforcement, restrict Medicaid and other health coverage for some noncitizens, and penalize states that provide state-funded coverage to immigrants, including lawful permanent residents, individuals with temporary work visas and refugees.

Miller-Meeks has said the changes are necessary to eliminate “waste, fraud and abuse” and improve the program’s effectiveness, weeding out individuals who could work taking advantage of the system.

“I voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act because it prevents the largest tax hike on families and small businesses in American history, secures the border and unleashes American energy dominance,” Miller-Meeks said last week in a statement to The Gazette.

Critics, including Iowa nonprofits, doctors and nurses, warn that the proposed changes could lead to significant coverage losses, increased costs for families and a reduction in access to necessary care.

PREVIOUS CAMPAIGNS

Miller-Meeks won re-election to a third term last fall after she defeated Bohannan in a rematch of 2022, when Miller-Meeks won by 7 percentage points.

Last year’s margin was much tighter. Miller-Meeks won by fewer than 800 votes of about 427,000 cast — or roughly 0.2 percent — following a recount requested by Bohannan. Her win helped her party pad its thin majority in the U.S. House and retain control of all four of Iowa’s congressional seats.

She earned a first term in Congress when she defeated Democrat Rita Hart by just six votes in 2020.

Bohannan said she’s better positioned to defeat Miller-Meeks this time, arguing the national political headwinds that battered Democrats in 2024 have shifted and are working against Republicans this cycle.

Historically, the president’s party tends to lose seats in the House during midterm elections. Public opinion polls indicate a decline in Trump’s approval rating. The president’s tariff policies have led to stock market losses and economic concerns, and Republican lawmakers have faced contentious town hall meetings with angry constituents expressing concerns about the administration’s actions.

Miller-Meeks also faces opposition within her own party.

Davenport Republican David Pautsch has filed to seek the Republican nomination for the Eastern Iowa U.S. House seat for the second time in a run from the party’s right flank.

Miller-Meeks fended off Pautsch in the 2024 GOP primary, winning with about 55 percent of the vote to Pautsch’s 44 percent. It was a stronger than expected showing for Pautsch, who raised just $43,000 for the race.

National forecasters the Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball list the race as a toss-up. In April, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said it is targeting the district as one it hopes to flip in 2026.

Bohannan outperformed the top of the ticket by 8 points in the 20-county district in the 2024 general election. She received more raw votes and a higher vote share than Democratic former Vice President Kamala Harris. In addition to Johnson County, Bohannan carried Scott and Jefferson counties, which Trump won.

For those reasons, Bohannan claims she has the best opportunity to flip the Republican seat.

Former Democratic state lawmaker and Veterans National Recovery Center president Bob Krause of Burlington and Democrat Travis Terrell, of Johnson County, also have announced they are running for the U.S. House seat.

‘DISHEARTENED’ VOTERS

Bohannan said she was encouraged to run again by Iowans worried about increasing consumer costs from tariffs and trade wars, and losing their health care, their jobs, hospitals and nursing homes due to steep spending cuts.

“They’re disheartened about the dysfunction and division in our government,” she said. “And you know, I spent the last few years talking to people in every corner of this district, and they know that I have been through the same struggles.”

Bohannan said she grew up in a mobile home, in a town of 700 people in Florida. While in high school, her father — who worked construction — fell ill from emphysema and had his health insurance canceled because of his preexisting condition, leaving her family in a bind to cover his medical expenses. She said she worked her way through school, becoming the first in her family to go to college.

A Republican from Ottumwa who also resides in Davenport, Miller-Meeks left home at age 16 after being severely burned in a kitchen fire, worked her way through college to earn her nursing degree, enlisted in the U.S. Army at age 18 where she served for 24 years, became a doctor and served in the Iowa Senate before being elected to Congress in 2020.

Bohannan said she’s running to be an independent voice prioritizing Iowa’s interests over partisan politics, noting she unseated a 20-year Democratic incumbent in a 2020 primary to represent Iowa City in the Iowa House as evidence she’s willing to buck her party.

“We basically had a tied race in 2024 because a lot of people who have traditionally voted Republican, voted for me instead,” she said. “And I think what it shows is that people really care about the person, not about the political label.”

IMMIGRATION ISSUE

Immigration will likely continue to be a significant issue in the 2026 election, given Trump’s immigration enforcement crackdown. The administration’s fasttrack deportation policy has sparked nationwide protests and court challenges over stripping individuals of due process rights by making them vulnerable to rapid deportation without a fair hearing.

“We need a secure border. I believe in enforcing our laws,” Bohannan said.

She said she supports the bipartisan border security deal that was shelved in the U.S. Senate last year due to objections from Trump. Miller-Meeks has downplayed the reform plan, and charged that Bohannan and Democrats did not prioritize immigration policy until more voters demanded it in 2024.

“Both political parties have absolutely failed to address immigration in a comprehensive way,” Bohannan said. “Democrats, including President Biden, were way too slow to take action on securing the border, and it frustrated a lot of people across all political parties. But, the Republicans refused to do anything about immigration a couple of years ago when they had the chance, because they wanted to keep playing politics with the issue.”

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