(Radio Iowa) – Two of the four Iowans who serve in the U.S. House are seeking re-election and one of them faces a Primary. First District Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks is seeking a fourth term, challenged for a second time by David Pausch. On the campaign trail, Miller-meeks focuses on the General Election and her likely rematch with Democrat Christina Bohannan.
“We have always been the underdog in a purple district. We have always been discounted, but we are the top race in the country right now. They have already spent $5 million attacking me. I am only 4′ 11″. I am not that intimidating,” Miller-Meeks said and the crowd laughed, “but I scare the bejesus out of them.” Miller-Meeks says her main contrast with Bohannan and other Democrats is their view of constitutional liberties.
“We saw that during COVID…in censorship, in deplatforming, in forcing private companies to censure,” Miller-Meeks said, “…in mandating a vaccine without acknowledging the doctor and the patient and whether or not somebody needed it.” Bohannan, who lost to Miller-Meeks by about 800 votes in 2024, says Medicaid cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Miller-Meeks voted for last summer are causing hospital and clinic closures and those cuts must be reversed. She also favors letting Americans under the age of 65 buy into Medicare.
“If people like their private insurance, great. They can stay with that, but Medicare a guaranteed, kind of affordable option,” Bohannan says, “and they would have the option to buy into that at a rate that makes sense for their income level.” Democrat Travis Terrell, a patient care specialist at the University of Iowa, is running against Bohannan on this year’s Primary.
“The ultimate goal for me is always going to be universal healthcare,” Terrell said. “I think that’s the only way that we don’t leave anybody behind on it.” Pausch — the Republican running against Miller-Meeks — is again criticizing her for voting to certify the 2020 election. Pausch says if he’s elected, he’d vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act and turn the health care system’s focus on preventative care.
“It needs to be centered on competition among providers and making certain that the American people are funded to be players in the game,” Pausch says. “They don’t have any say right now.” In 2024, Pausch finished with 44 percent of the G-O-P Primary vote in the first district compared to 56 percent for Miller-Meeks.
Third district Congressman Zach Nunn of Ankeny, the other Iowa Republican seeking reelection to the U.S. House, does not face a primary opponent. Democrat Sarah Trone-Garriott of West Des Moines is unopposed in her primary in the third congressional district as well.
