Mariannette Miller-Meeks loses reelection in Iowa’s 1st District

After three terms in Congress, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) lost her reelection campaign in Iowa‘s 1st Congressional District, succumbing to a third challenge from Democratic nominee Christina Bohannan.The Associated Press called the race for Bohannan at 12:08 a.m. She garnered 53.5% against Miller-Meeks’s 42.8%, with 90% of the vote counted.The race for Iowa’s 1st District became crucial for Republicans to retain control of the House, with Miller-Meeks and the likes of Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA) distancing themselves from President Donald Trump, particularly over the Iran war amid record-high diesel prices during harvest season. The pair did that by voting with Democrats to restrict Trump’s war powers regarding the conflict. Miller-Meeks and Nunn’s distance came despite Trump winning Iowa in the 2024 presidential election by 13 percentage points.“As the cost of nearly everything — from diesel and gas, to housing, food, fertilizer, and healthcare — skyrockets, working families are left with no other option but to either take on more debt or empty their pockets just to afford basic necessities,” the Democratic National Committee wrote in a statement. “Meanwhile, Trump’s war of choice in Iran is squeezing farmers and small businesses who are already struggling to the brink of collapse.”Iowa’s importance to the Republican battleground map was underscored by Trump’s decision to campaign in Dubuque on the Sunday before Election Day, though he did earlier cancel the rally before rescheduling it in response to public perception that he was not optimistic about the GOP’s electoral prospects in the state.Considered a Leans Democrat race by the Cook Political Report during the week leading up to Tuesday, Trump’s announcement in September that Mesabi Metallics was constructing a $15 billion steel complex in Iowa, described by the administration as the “largest-ever” in the country, did not change the polls.2026 MIDTERM ELECTIONS LIVE UPDATES: LATEST NEWS, RESULTS AND ANALYSIS“For too long, Iowa families have watched their jobs shipped overseas and their communities hollowed out. Not anymore,” Miller-Meeks wrote at the time. “The largest steel plant in America is coming to Lee County with more than 1,700 permanent, good-paying jobs. I’m proud to have helped make this historic investment a reality. There’s no better place than Iowa to make things IN America, BY Americans.”Iowa plays host to two other competitive congressional districts as well as gubernatorial and Senate contests.