DAVENPORT, Iowa — Just weeks after the Iowa Legislature approved the state's redistricting maps that changed congressional district boundaries, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks announced that she will run for re-election in the newly drawn 1st Congressional District.
The congresswoman's home address in Ottumwa, IA., put her in the state's new 3rd District, which stretches from the southern parts of Iowa up to Polk county. If she had chosen to run in the 3rd, it would have given her a smaller constituency, but also would have put her up against fellow U.S. Rep. incumbent, Democrat Cindy Axne.
She told reporters the decision wasn't an easy one - having only made up her mind the night before her announcement - and she says she weighed the emotional aspect heavily.
"There's a strategy, there's the numbers, but I have a very deep connection with the 2nd District," she said. "Maybe it's time for a little bit of stability. And I can offer that stability by running and representing the people I currently represent."
Her current constituency is comprised of 24 counties in Southeastern Iowa's 2nd District. Every ten years, census data requires the redistricting of federal and state voting districts. Iowa's new maps, which go into effect in 2022, flip that portion of the state to the 1st District, and drop it down to 20 counties.
Jackson, Jones, Iowa and Warren counties were all added to the new district, while Clarke, Lucas, Monroe, Wapello, Davis, Appanoose, Wayne and Decatur counties were all reallocated to the 3rd District.
In the above picture, the left shows Miller-Meeks' current 2nd District. On the right is Iowa's new 1st District. The yellow counties are the four that were added, while the red are the eight that were dropped.
"The counties that will become the new 1st Congressional District next year had been home to me," she said during a press conference on Wednesday, Nov. 10.
She added her strong ties to the new 1st District includes 16 of 24 counties currently in the 2nd District.
“The newly drawn 1st Congressional District encompasses the bulk of the current 2nd Congressional District and includes more than 85% of the constituents that I currently represent," Miller-Meeks said. "While Wapello County, where my current home is located, is not part of the new district, the counties that will become the new 1st Congressional District next year have been home to me for many reasons."
Miller-Meeks did not specify if she will move out of her hometown of Ottumwa where she previously served in Iowa's 2nd District. She won that election in 2020 by six votes of the 393,922 total ballots recorded.
Representatives in the House are required to live in the state they represent, but not necessarily the district.
Speaking on Wednesday, she says the real question has never been, "‘Where is she going?’ but ‘Where are we going?’"
Having practiced ophthalmology at Great River Eye Specialists in West Burlington, Miller-Meeks says she taught at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and has networked with a lot of people in the district because of that.
"I know the concerns of business owners, working families, farmers and others who make their local communities what they are. And I have a special connection with so many people throughout the new 1st District,” Miller-Meeks said. “It is for those reasons that I have decided that I will seek my second congressional term as a candidate in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District.”
She added that she didn't want to make her current constituents feel betrayed, and said there were many disadvantages to her running in the new 1st.
"Now I'm in a larger district," she noted. "And I'm at the edge of that district rather than the geographic center of that district."
Laughing, she did say she hoped to win reelection by more than just six votes this time around.
"There's still work that I have to do and I think that I'm a very pragmatic, common sense voice in Washington, D.C.," said Miller-Meeks. “I’m running because we need to stop the destructive, tax-and-spend policies of the Biden-Pelosi team and restore economic sanity and good old common sense to our government.”
Miller-Meeks also emphasized her campaign goals of securing a better future for Iowans.
“While the liberal Democrats have given up on Iowans and their fight for the American dream, I never will," Miller-Meeks said. "I will continue to fight for affordable and accessible health care, a stronger economy, better jobs and higher take-home pay, skills training, fair trade deals, and an education that works for our kids, not the teachers’ unions. As I announce today that I am running in the 1st Congressional District, I will never give up on Iowans, our future, the American dream, or the conservative values that have made our country the beacon of hope and freedom that it is.”
According to a Politico report, the congresswoman had at least $1.4 million in her campaign fund by the end of September.
Democrats Christina Bohannan of Iowa City and Joseph Kerner of Knoxville also announced campaigns in the 1st District.
In response to Miller-Meeks' announcement, Bohannan, an Iowa State Representative and law professor, gave this statement:
"I welcome Rep Miller-Meeks to the race in Iowa's new first Congressional district. While she's been weighing her political prospects, and voting against bipartisan infrastructure improvements for Iowa, I've been traveling throughout Iowa's first Congressional district meeting voters where they're at. It's been an honor to hear from folks about the issues that matter most to them -- including fixing our roads and bridges, creating good-paying jobs, supporting small business, and improving our education and health care. One thing is clear: Southeastern Iowans want a Congressional representative who values truth, integrity, and will put delivering results for the people of Iowa above divisive partisan politics."
The primary election is scheduled for June 7.