Critical House race that could decide control of Congress hits home stretch as GOP rep warns what's at stake
PRAIRIE CITY, Iowa — Iowa's 1st Congressional District is shaping up to be one of the closest races in the country as Republicans try to hold their razor-thin majority in the House.
Fox News Digital spoke to Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks about her pitch to keep the seat in GOP hands and what Democrats taking back control would mean.
"Common sense over crazy. This is just common sense over crazy communism," Miller-Meeks told Fox News Digital about her opponent, former Democratic state Rep. Christina Bohannan, who Miller-Meeks said is "perfectly in alignment" with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
Miller-Meeks accused Bohannan, who the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) has labeled a "DEI queen," of supporting progressive priorities during her time in the Iowa House that aren't in line with where the majority of Iowa voters stand.
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"My opponent has not supported law enforcement. She tries to hide where she is on open borders. She has voted against every single tax cut while she was an Iowa legislator and said that the working family's tax cut was dangerous and would get rid of all of it," Miller-Meeks said.
"Then she talks about in her campaign ads supporting tax cuts for the middle class. She also supported keeping boys in girls sports and boys and girls locker rooms."
Miller-Meeks, who spoke to Fox News Digital at a Department of Agriculture roundtable talking to farmers about their needs and the Trump administration's efforts to lower burdensome farming regulations, said, over the next month until the election, her campaign will continue to "make sure that we're serving Iowans, that were out meeting with constituents answering their questions, coming before them and being available and doing the great constituent work that we've always done and showing the contrast."
The incumbent congressman touted her record of working to bring in a massive steel mill in recent months, creating manufacturing jobs, helping farmers through ethanol and biodiesel policies, improving water quality and supporting conservation.
Voters across the country, including in Iowa, have expressed frustration with the economy, the cost of gas and diesel and the Iran War. And while Miller-Meeks acknowledged the concerns, she's making the case that putting Democrats back in power isn't the answer because they would roll back the work that has been done by Republicans.
"There'll be no relief coming," she said. "They already said that they would get rid of all those policies."
Miller-Meeks said the Democratic Party as a whole has moved further left and will attempt to "get rid of" Republican-led measures she credited with making U.S. steel production more competitive and benefiting states like Iowa.
"Our bill on opening up energy production here in the United States did bring gasoline prices and diesel prices down at the first of the year," Miller-Meeks explained. She added that if Republican policies had been put in place during the Biden administration, "we would have already had more biodiesel, which would have helped bring down diesel prices."
The congresswoman argued Republicans will fight to preserve policies that lower energy, housing, healthcare and prescription drug costs, create jobs and root out fraud, waste and abuse that cost taxpayers millions.
"It's not just making prices affordable, but it's also increasing wages and increasing jobs and good-paying jobs," she said. "We have certainly done that with the policies that we've put in place that the Democrats would get rid of."
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Miller-Meeks also mentioned several proposals she led targeting fraud in government programs following the Feeding Our Future scandal, which raised many questions about accountability among state leaders. The Medicaid Whistleblower Protection Act would establish federal protections nationwide for Medicaid workers who report early warning signs of fraud, and the WALZ Act would require the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General to open investigations into any program that sees a 10% or greater increase in total payments over any six-month period within a fiscal year.
"Tackling corruption inside the government, inside government agencies or in members of Congress or the administration, we're gonna continue to do that and work to serve Iowans and the American people," she said.
This will be Bohannan’s third time running for Congress against Miller-Meeks after narrowly losing by less than a percentage point in 2024. The race is rated a "toss up" by Cook Political Report, reflecting Democratic momentum and broader headwinds facing Republicans in a midterm election shaped by President Donald Trump’s approval ratings and economic concerns.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Bohannan defended her positions, writing Miller-Meeks' "siding with drug companies, data centers, billionaires and party leadership at every turn" is "self-serving."
"What's crazy is pretending to represent your constituents when you're bought and sold. I'll always put Iowa first. That's common sense," Bohannan said.