IOWA, USA — Two days after Election Day, Iowa's 1st U.S. Congressional District has still yet to be officially called by the Associated Press.
The race is between current U.S. Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Christina Bohannan. It was deemed a toss-up from the beginning and now it could play a role in shaping who holds the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The race is no stranger to coming down to the wire. In 2020, Miller-Meeks beat current Chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, Rita Hart, by just six votes.
In 2022, Miller-Meeks defeated Christina Bohannan by 7%, and now in 2024, Miller-Meeks is currently leading Bohannan by 799 votes.
Despite the race not being officially called, Miller-Meeks is declaring her victory.
"We're very comfortable in our margin, very comfortable in our victory," Miller-Meeks said in a press conference Wednesday.
Assistant Professor of Political Science at Drake University, Adrien Halliez, said the closeness of this race comes as no surprise.
"The 1st district is probably the one that you should expect to be the closest, because it has that breakdown between rural areas and more suburban, urban areas," Halliez said.
Bohannan posted on X on Wednesday saying, "This race is still too close to call, and we are expecting more ballots to come in over the coming days."
In a statement to Local 5 on Thursday, a spokesman for Miller-Meeks' campaign said, "It's time to bring people together and Christina Bohannan should accept the decision of the voters and concede."
This race could hold implications at the federal level as Republicans are looking for the trifecta.
As of Thursday evening, Republicans lead Democrats in U.S. House of Representatives races won, but there are still over 20 races to be called.
The next steps for the 1st U.S. Congressional District race would either be a re-count of the ballots or the Secretary of State's certification process of the ballots.
"I feel like it has every reason to be called," Halliez said. "We're not within a margin that can be easily changed after a recount, or anything like that, but AP wants to be very cautious with that race."
Local 5 reached out to Bohannan's campaign and the Iowa Secretary of State for comment on Thursday but has still not heard back.