(Radio Iowa) – Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks expects her bid for a second term in the U.S. House to be among the most closely watched races in the country. Miller-Meeks won her first race in 2020 by a six-vote margin. “I think that this election cycle will be different, both pros and cons. You have a congressional record — a voting record now that can be brought up, but you also have those things which you have achieved,” Miller-Meeks says. “So I think given the things that I have done, I expect to be reelected and by a much larger margin that six votes.”

During a weekend appearance on “Iowa Press” on Iowa P-B-S, Miller-Meeks joked that her margin of victory would be at least triple what it was in 2020. Miller-Meeks also discussed running in the new first congressional district, where about 35 percent of registered voters are Democrats, 32 percent are Republicans and the rest are independents. “I in no way think that this is going to be an easy reelect,” Miller-Meeks says. “It’s going to . I’m known to be a very strong campaigner. I’m known to be out and visiting with people and I will continue to do that.”

Marianette Miller-Meeks. (photo from Miller-Meeks office.)

Miller-Meeks says she’s visited all 24 counties in Iowa’s current second congressional district four times since being sworn into office last January. Miller-Meeks says she decided to seek reelection in Iowa’s new first congressional because it covers most of the territory in her current district — but Miller-Meeks also considered running in the district that includes Ottumwa, so she could keep representing her hometown. “Wapello County was put into district three,” Miller-Meeks says. “…and so it was an extraordinarily difficult decision to make and finally came to the decision that I would run in the district which 80% of I currently represent.”

While there’s no requirement that members of congress live within the boundaries of the district they represent — they just have to live within the state — four of Iowa’s congressmen moved after district lines were redrawn in 2001 and 2011. Miller-Meeks, a Republican, won’t be selling her home in Ottumwa, but does plan to establish a residence in the new first district. “I have a variety of housing options,” Miller-Meeks says. “I’ll be able to be in the district and live within the district.”

Miller-Meeks, who is an eye doctor, has worked at a clinic in Burlington she taught in the University of Iowa Medical School in the late 1990s. She may face a G-O-P Primary in 2022. Kyle Kuehl, a Bettendorf business owner, also announced his candidacy as a Republican in the new 1st District. Democrat Christina Bohannan, a University of Iowa Law School professor who’s a member of state legislature, announced earlier this year she intended to challenge Miller-Meeks in 2022.