DAVENPORT, Iowa — The 2022 midterm election is quickly approaching on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
In 2020, Iowa's 1st Congressional District, previously the 2nd District before redistricting in 2021, ended in the closest congressional race in the country. Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks beat her opponent, Democrat Rita Hart, by just six votes to secure her first term in Congress.
Now, Miller-Meeks is being challenged by Democrat Christina Bohannan, who is currently a state representative for District 85, the northern half of Iowa City.
Iowa's 1st District covers southeastern Iowa, stretching west to just south of the Des Moines area.
Bohannan grew up in Florida and moved to Iowa around 20 years ago to teach law at the University of Iowa.
She said she's running for Congress to help focus on people's needs and put extremist politics aside.
"I really feel that we have to get back to working together, we have to get back to being able to compromise," Bohannan said. "We really have to get back to just focusing on helping people make their everyday lives better. And if that means we have to do some give and take, that's what we should do."
Some of her top priorities are inflation and health care.
If elected to Congress, Bohannan said she wants to work to lower costs and invest in rural health care.
One of the reasons these are her top issues is because of her own personal experience growing up. Her dad was diagnosed with emphysema, and 10 years later, his health insurance was canceled because he hit his coverage limit.
"We're losing our hospitals, we're losing our OBGYN departments," she said. "I would like to see us invest in rural health care infrastructure, keeping some of those hospitals open, and when we can't keep the hospitals open, at least keeping open the emergency room for those critical care needs. And then I really want to work on incentives to bring health care professionals here and to keep them here, doctors, nurses, mental health care professionals. Those are people who we desperately need in some of our underserved areas in Iowa."
That also includes lowering prescription drug costs.
"I've seen what happens with families who can't afford to put food on the table, who don't have access to the health care they need, can't afford the prescription drugs that they need," Bohannan said. "I'm not talking about handouts. I'm talking about big spending for no reason. I'm talking about helping hard-working people just to get by."
Republicans have the advantage in the 1st District, according to a recent Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll. The poll was conducted Oct. 9-12 and released Oct. 17.
50% of voters surveyed said they were likely to support a Republican candidate in the 1st District, while 41% said they would support a Democrat. The poll's margin for error in this district is substantial at +/- 8.4%. The poll did not ask voters about the candidates by name, only if they favored a Republican or Democratic candidate.
To learn about Bohannan's opponent, Rep. Marianette Miller-Meeks, click/tap here.
Watch more election coverage on News 8's YouTube channel