DES MOINES — Iowa U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks fended off a challenge from within the Republican Party in the state’s primary elections Tuesday and will seek a third, two-year term in the U.S. House this fall.
Miller-Meeks won the Republican primary in Eastern Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, securing 55.9 percent of the vote to Davenport prayer breakfast organizer David Pautsch’s 43.9 percent, according to unofficial results.
The 12-point victory ensures a general election rematch in the 1st District: Miller-Meeks will face Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan, a lawyer and former state legislator from Iowa City. In 2022, Miller-Meeks defeated Bohannan by 6.7 percentage points, 52.6 percent to 45.9 percent.
“I look forward to taking our message to every Iowan in our district ahead of November,” Miller-Meeks said in a statement. “I share Iowans’ priorities for the next Congress: securing our southern border, getting inflation and the cost of living under control, tackling the mounting national debt, making sure we have strong K-12 education, and addressing escalating conflicts around the world.”
Bohannan was the only Democrat to file in the 1st District primary.
Miller-Meeks’ statement included a look ahead to this fall’s general election.
“My opponent and her radical leftist agenda will continue to drive costs, keep our borders open, prioritize social politics instead of quality education for our kids and continue rampant government spending, which has led to crippling high prices and interest rates while simultaneously increasing our national debt,” Miller-Meeks said.
“Her blind support for Democrat policies and Joe Biden’s failed agenda would mean years of financial hardship, limited opportunity for Iowans, pervasive crime in our communities, and weak support for Israel against Hamas,” she said.
Bohannan responded likewise in a statement she issued after the polls closed.
“Iowans are fired up, plain and simple. Mariannette Miller-Meeks puts Washington politicians and special interests before us, from trying to ban abortion nationwide with no exceptions to accepting hundreds of thousands from Big Pharma then voting against lowering prescription drug costs,” Bohannan said. “It’s no surprise Miller-Meeks earned herself a primary challenge — it doesn’t matter whether you're a Republican, a Democrat, or an Independent, people are fed up with a representative who is clearly not interested in our voices or experiences.”
The general election is Nov. 5.
2nd District: no contested primary
There were no contested primary elections in either party in Eastern Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, where Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson will face Democratic challenger Sarah Corkery.
3rd District Democratic primary
Lanon Baccam defeated Melissa Vine by 68 percentage points in the primary election that determined Democrats’ challenger to first-term Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn in Central Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District.
Baccam received 84.1 percent of the vote and Vine just 15.8 percent, according to unofficial results.
Baccam is a former U.S. Department of Agriculture official, veteran and Democratic campaign operative. Vine is a Des Moines nonprofit leader and victims advocate.
“I’m honored and grateful for the support and trust so many Iowans have put in me. We are building a movement to restore effective representation for Iowa focused on working families,” Baccam said in a statement.
“I stepped up to run for this seat because I saw the complete lack of leadership from Zach Nunn, who has abandoned Iowa to play D.C. politics. Instead of getting things done for Iowans, he’s laser-focused on putting politicians in charge of women’s health care decisions, threatening seniors’ retirement benefits, and making it harder for us to get ahead,” he said.
Established Iowa Democrats rallied behind Baccam when he entered the campaign late last year; he immediately announced endorsem*nts from U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, State Auditor Rob Sand, multiple former Iowa Democratic Party state chairs and legislative leaders.
Nunn did not face a primary challenge.
“(Hillary) Clinton, (Nancy) Pelosi, and (Joe) Biden hand-selected their paid political activist, Lanon Baccam, to move to Iowa after years as a D.C. bureaucrat,” Nunn campaign manager Kendyl Parker said in a statement. “We’re confident Iowans will reject Lanon and his former bosses’ tax-and-spend, open-border policies that he has made his life’s mission to defend. While Lanon tries to run from his past to deceive Iowans, Zach will continue to deliver results for families.”
4th District GOP primary
U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra secured the Republican nomination to run for a third term representing conservative Western Iowa’s 4th Congressional District, fending off a primary challenge from Kevin Virgil.
Feenstra received 60.1 percent of the vote to 39.6 percent for Virgil, a U.S. Army veteran and former intelligence worker, according to unofficial results.
Feenstra’s primary victory ensures another Iowa congressional rematch: Feenstra will face Democrat Ryan Melton in this fall’s general election. Feenstra in 2022 more than doubled Melton’s votes and won by 36 percentage points.
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