Miller-Meeks faces GOP challenger in Iowa's 1st District as Democrats look ahead to rematch

As she seeks a third term in Congress, U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks is defending her record from attacks by a GOP primary challenger, while Democrats look ahead to a competitive race in November.

Miller-Meeks, 68, won her first term in Congress in 2020 by just six votes before winning reelection more comfortably in 2022.

The ophthalmologist and former state senator represents the 1st Congressional District in southeast Iowa, including Iowa City, Davenport and Keokuk.

She's facing a Republican primary challenge from David Pautsch, 70, a businessman and the founder of the Quad Cities Prayer Breakfast.

The primary election is June 4.

More: Meet the candidates running for Iowa's 1st Congressional District in southeast Iowa

In making her pitch for another term, Miller-Meeks touted her work on veterans issues and bills she's introduced to lower prescription drug prices. She also highlighted immigration, high costs and government spending as priorities to tackle.

"I’m going to continue to work on those things that are important to people, whether it is border security and immigration reform, whether it is the high prices and the economy, whether it is the level of national debt," she said. "We have to put a check and balance on President Biden. People are not better off than they were four years ago when he was elected."

Pautsch said his campaign is focused on supporting families.

"That’s the building block of all society," he said. "So you have to make certain that the parents are taken care of, that they can afford to raise their kids."

He also said he supports cutting government spending, reducing the deficit and requiring a constitutional amendment to balance the federal government.

Pautsch lobs criticism at Miller-Meeks as she defends her record

Pautsch has used his campaign to aggressively criticize Miller-Meeks on abortion, immigration and the national debt, accusing her of being insufficiently Republican.

Defending his decision to challenge a sitting member of Congress from his own party, Pautsch said Miller-Meeks is "not part of our party" and called her a RINO, or Republican in name only.

"She says oh, you shouldn’t primary a Republican. Well, that privilege is reserved for Republicans, not for RINOs," he said. "Not for people who don’t have any concerns for the conservative issues of the Republican Party."

More: 2024 Iowa election guide: What are the candidates saying ahead of the June primary?

Miller-Meeks said she expects criticism of her record during a campaign, but said she's always very transparent about the votes she takes and makes a point to be accessible and open to questions.

"I think the most important thing to realize about primaries is that on the Republican side, your primary opponent is going to go to your right and on the Democrat side your primary opponent is going to go to your left," Miller-Meeks said. "And it’s up to you to be able to explain why you vote the way you vote."

Pautsch faulted Miller-Meeks for voting to certify President Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election, which former President Donald Trump falsely claimed was stolen from him. Iowa's entire congressional delegation voted to certify the election results when Congress reconvened after the Jan. 6 Capitol riots temporarily forced proceedings to a halt.

He also criticized Miller-Meeks for voting for the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act after leadership removed a Republican amendment that would ban the Defense Department from reimbursing servicemembers for out of state travel to obtain abortions.

"She doesn’t show any passion for the unborn," he said.

Miller-Meeks pointed to her A+ rating from the national anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.

"When it comes to pro-life, I’m pro-life with exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother," Miller-Meeks said. "For some individuals and some Republicans, they believe there should be no abortion and no exceptions. I’m not in that camp. And my opponent may certainly be in that camp."

On immigration, Pautsch claimed without evidence that Biden "intentionally and maliciously … wanted this border open." He accused Biden of wanting to "create instability and chaos" to disrupt the 2024 election.

"I’m not even certain in many respects if we’re even going to have an election," he said. "And I’m not trying to be hysterical or engage in hyperbole."

"War has been declared on us by this fake presidential administration," Pautsch added. "And people just need to wake up."

Miller-Meeks said "a wide-open southern border" is one of the issues she hears about the most from voters. She pointed to her vote for H.R. 2, a border security bill that would restart construction on a border wall and make a range of other changes cracking down on illegal immigration.

More: Early voting has started for Iowa's June 4 primary election. Here's what you should know:

Miller-Meeks has large fundraising advantage in primary

Miller-Meeks has a large fundraising advantage over Pautsch. The incumbent had raised nearly $2.7 million throughout the election cycle as of April 1, and had $1.7 million in the bank, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.

Meanwhile, Pautsch had raised $28,000 and had less than $8,000 in the bank by the same date.

But Pautsch said his positions are more in line with what Republican voters are looking for. He's relying on a combination of grassroots support and targeted digital advertising to help him to victory.

"I think we’re going to win," he said. "And everyone tells you it’s difficult because everyone measures difficulty by money. They look at my cash on hand. Well, we’ve always had enough money to do what we need to do."

Miller-Meeks called it "an honor and privilege" to serve in Congress and said she would campaign the same way whether or not she faced an opponent in the election.

"My approach to campaigning is the same regardless of whether I have a primary challenger or not," she said. "And that is I’m accessible, I travel the district, I meet with people, I do meet and greets."

Democrat Christina Bohannan preparing for general election rematch

The winner of the Republican primary will face Democrat Christina Bohannan in the fall.

Bohannan, 52, is a former state representative from Iowa City. She's running for Congress for the second time after Miller-Meeks beat her by about 7 percentage points in 2022.

National Democrats have placed the race on their list of 33 Republican-held or open districts they hope to flip.

Bohannan said she and her team have been knocking on doors all across the district and have a head start over where they were at this point in the 2022 election cycle.

"We already have five times the volunteer base that we had at this point in the 2022 election," she said. "People are fired up. They are saying that they have not seen this kind of energy and momentum in organizing in Iowa in a decade or more. So we are very excited about that."

Bohannan said she's running to lower costs for Iowans, including groceries, gas and prescription drugs. She said Miller-Meeks has accepted donations from special interests "and has put their needs ahead of everyday Iowans."

"She’s taken $170,000 or more from the pharmaceutical industry and voted against capping the price of insulin at $35 and against letting Medicare negotiate for lower drug prices," Bohannan said. "That is an important issue for this district where so many people are on Medicare, so many people need their prescription drugs."

Miller-Meeks said it's not unusual for individuals and groups to support candidates who align with their values. She said she believes Democrats' efforts to lower drug prices have not succeeded and have disrupted pharmaceutical companies' ability to develop new drugs.

She has introduced legislation that goes after pharmacy benefit managers, which act as middlemen between drug manufacturers and pharmacies. Critics have accused the groups of taking in large profits without bringing down the price of drugs for patients.

"Whether or not pharmaceutical companies contribute to me or pharmacy benefit managers contribute to me or independent pharmacists contribute to me, I’m still going to work in lowering prescription drug prices for individuals in a way that I feel is consistent with my approach of small government and federal regulation when it is needed, but not overregulation," she said.

Abortion, IVF poised to be general election issues

Abortion and in vitro fertilization are also poised to be key issues in the campaign. Bohannan has gone after Miller-Meeks for co-sponsoring the 2021-22 Life at Conception Act, which says life begins at fertilization. Bohannan says that would ban all abortions without exceptions and imperil IVF access.

More: IVF could be a driving issue in Iowa congressional races. Where do the candidates stand?

"This is a key issue for people, including people across political parties," Bohannan said. "This is not just a Democratic issue. Independents care a lot about this issue and I am talking about it far and wide."

Miller-Meeks has spoken positively about IVF and co-sponsored a nonbinding resolution that “strongly supports the access to and use of IVF treatments across the United States" — but it did not offer any legal protections for patients or providers.

"I, as a scientist, believe life begins at conception," she said. "Which in no way deters us or prevents or puts any regulation or stipulations on in vitro fertilization."

She said she signed onto the Life at Conception Act before the 2022 Dobbs decision overturned the nationwide right to abortion. In the wake of that decision, Miller-Meeks said she thinks decisions about abortion policy should remain at the state level, pointing to Trump's recent comments indicating he believes the same thing.

"At this time the decision’s been turned back to the states. I think that’s where it should remain," she said. "At this juncture I’m not aware of a bill that’s advanced in the House that would be a federal restriction to abortion."

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Mariannette Miller-Meeks, David Pautsch face off in 1st District race