Miller-Meeks wins a second term in the U.S. House

U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks won a second term in office Tuesday, the Associated Press projected, beating Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan in the race to represent the people of Iowa’s U.S. House District 1.

Miller-Meeks, a Republican who won her first term in office two years ago by the narrowest of margins, had 53.4% of the total vote late Tuesday in unofficial results with 87% of the vote counted.

Miller-Meeks was elected in 2020 to Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, following the retirement of longtime U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack. She won the election against Democrat Rita Hart by a margin of six votes.

Miller-Meeks will now represent Iowa’s newly configured District 1, which encompasses much of southeast Iowa, including Davenport, Burlington and Iowa City.

Iowa’s redistricting process drew Miller-Meeks’ home county of Wapello into the 3rd District, where Democrat Rep. Cindy Axne resides. The new 1st District, which covers many of the counties Miller-Meeks currently represents, did not have an incumbent living within its borders.

Prior to serving in Congress, Miller-Meeks served in the U.S. Army for 24 years as a nurse and doctor. In 2010, she was appointed by then-Gov. Terry Branstad to the position of director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, a position she held until 2014. In 2018, she was elected to the Iowa Senate.

Bohannan is a law professor at the University of Iowa with a specialty in copyright and intellectual property law. She was elected to the Iowa House in 2020, and campaigned this year on education, workforce training, clean energy and health care as her priorities.

According to OpenSecrets, Miller-Meeks raised $4.45 million in her 2022 campaign as of Oct. 19, and spent $3.2 million. Bohannan raised $2.93 million and spent $2.37 million.