CORALVILLE, Iowa — In the toss-up race for Iowa’s 1st District, the battle for control of the House is playing out through the lens of dueling views on the GOP’s signature reconciliation package.
For Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), a three-term incumbent who won reelection by just 799 votes in 2024, the One Big Beautiful Bill is an economic booster that cuts out “waste, fraud and abuse to strengthen and preserve Medicaid.”
Miller-Meeks is also touting the expansion of the child tax credit, now referred to by the GOP as the Working Families Tax Cut.
But in the eyes of Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan, the legislation has devastated healthcare for Iowans struggling to make ends meet.
“Miller-Meeks has voted to cut Medicaid for over 100,000 Iowans and voted to discontinue the ACA subsidies, which are now driving up the cost of premiums every month by two and three times,” Bohannan told us in an interview at her campaign headquarters.
Bohannan, a University of Iowa law professor who served in the state legislature, has lost to Miller-Meeks the past two cycles. In her third try for a House seat, Bohannan predicts that anger at Miller-Meeks’ voting record will lead to the incumbent’s downfall, citing the Republican’s support of President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the Iran war.
“People are very clear-eyed now about how she has gone completely Washington, D.C., and she is listening to her party bosses,” Bohannan said of Miller-Meeks. “It’s going to be very difficult for her to try to justify some of these terrible votes.”
Iowa’s 1st District voted for Trump in 2024 by eight points, but Miller-Meeks is no stranger to incredibly tight races. In 2020, Miller-Meeks won the seat by just six votes in one of the closest House elections ever.
The GOP messaging. During a Tuesday rally in Bettendorf, Iowa, Miller-Meeks hammered Bohannan as a left-winger who’s out of touch with the district. This is the playbook that Speaker Mike Johnson has suggested in D.C. Johnson argues the election is a choice between Republicans, who he views as common-sense stewards of governance, and Democrats, who support extreme policies.
“[Bohannan] supported defunding the police. She supported abolishing ICE. She voted to tax seniors’ retirement income,” Miller-Meeks said. “She voted to have Medicaid fund sex change operations.”
Bohannan’s response is also lifted from her party’s playbook: Republicans are trying to distract from abysmal economic conditions by bringing up ancillary issues.
“’I’d be surprised if anybody’s taking that kind of stuff seriously at a time when their groceries are sky high and premiums are sky high,” Bohannan responded.
As we reported on Wednesday, Miller-Meeks is tying herself closely to Trump as she seeks to shore up support among her conservative base.
While Bohannan blames the White House for high gas and fertilizer prices, Miller-Meeks pivots to former President Joe Biden’s tenure.
“We know that farmers were struggling all the way back to 2023 with high input costs. Why? Because the Biden administration drove up prices and drove up inflation. They did no trade deals for four years,” Miller-Meeks said.
Leadership watch. We asked Bohannan if she would back House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for Democratic leader if she won.
“I don’t know yet. I haven’t made that decision,” Bohannan responded. “I want to get elected first.”
Bohannan said she’s most focused on making sure all congressional leaders pay attention to the issues facing rural America.
