Republican Miller-Meeks wins reelection after recount in close Iowa congressional race

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks won her reelection bid Wednesday after a recount confirmed her lead, helping her party pad its thin majority in the U.S. House and retain control of all four of Iowa’s congressional seats.

Miller-Meeks said in a post on the social platform X that she was “deeply honored” after she defeated Democrat Christina Bohannan in a rematch of 2022, when Miller-Meeks won by 7 percentage points. The margin this year was much tighter — Miller-Meeks’ lead over Bohannan was less than a percentage point, or fewer than 1,000 votes.

“I am now looking forward to getting back to work in Washington to lower prices at the gas pump, grocery store and on prescription drugs, secure the border and help farmers,” said Miller-Meeks, who represents the 1st District, which includes the eastern part of the state and a swath of south-central Iowa, including Johnson County, home to 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 at 4:02 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Miller-Meeks had declared victory earlier, but the AP had not yet called the race because the margin was close enough that it could prompt a recount.

Bohannan’s campaign on Nov. 14 requested a recount, as any candidate is allowed to do, saying in a statement that the recount will make certain “that every voter is heard.” She congratulated Miller-Meeks in a message on X after the vote count was completed.

“Although this is not the result we wanted, I am so proud of our campaign,” she wrote. “We exceeded all expectations and turned a district that many pundits thought was unwinnable into one of the very closest races in the country.”

The request was made for a recount in each of the district’s 20 counties. Because the margin was less than a 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 dollars.

“This is a delaying tactic to thwart the will of the people,” the Miller-Meeks campaign said in a Nov. 14 statement. “A recount won’t meaningfully change the outcome of this race as the congresswoman’s lead is mathematically impossible to overcome.”

Republican incumbents held onto Iowa’s three other congressional seats, maintaining GOP control over the entirety of Iowa’s congressional delegation. The sweep in 2022 represented the first time in three decades that Iowa had an all-Republican delegation, emblematic of the sharp rightward shift in the state not long after former President Barack Obama carried Iowa in 2008 and again in 2012.

Obama won with solid support from the eastern counties along the Mississippi River that have mostly backed Trump since and bolster Miller-Meeks’ in her district as well.

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 House Republican and Democrats.

Zach Nunn fought off the 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 in the 4th District won decisively. Hinson defeated Democrat Sarah Corkery. Feenstra defeated Democrat Ryan Melton.

Hannah Fingerhut, The Associated Press