NewzDemocrat Christina Bohannan is making a third attempt to win a congressional seat in Iowa's 1st District COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa (AP) — It may have seemed out of place for a university professor from the liberal enclave of Iowa City to be holding court at a roadside bar and grill in a rural county where Republican Donald Trump won overwhelmingly two years ago. But that’s part of Christina Bohannan’s long learning curve as a Democratic candidate for Congress.
It takes a lot of time to get around, get people to know you and trust you,” Bohannan told a couple dozen voters in the tiny Louisa County town of Columbus Junction on a recent Sunday afternoon. Mariannette Miller-Meeks in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District in 2022 and 2024. Now she’s banking on Trump’s sagging popularity, healthcare struggles and economic concerns to put her over the top in a race that could help Democrats regain control of the U.S.
Miller-Meeks is digging in for a difficult campaign, describing Bohannan as a “radical progressive.” If Bohannan pulls off a victory this time, it could be the first ripple of what Democrats see as a potential national wave. The Democrat is reaching into rural counties to shave the Republican edge That’s why Bohannan was in Louisa County, a place she did not visit in the months leading up to the 2024 election, when she lost to Miller-Meeks by only 799 votes. It was the second-closest House race that year, and far closer than Bohannan’s loss in 2022, when she fell short by 23,000 votes.
Iowa’s 1st District is a microcosm of the state, largely rural with urban and suburban pockets. A geographic area larger than Massachusetts, more than half of its 20 counties have populations of less than 20,000 residents. Cindy Starr and her husband Tim Knutson had never met Bohannan before they made the drive from nearby Wapello to see her at 92 Roadside, a Louisa County social hub named for the highway that runs past it.
“We’d never heard of any campaign event for her before,” said Starr, a 62-year-old retired social worker. “Somebody rang our doorbell,” said Knutson, a 60-year-old retired meatpacking plant manager. “That’s never happened before.” Two years ago, she lost the county by almost 1,400 votes.
This time, Bohannan has a more aggressive ground game, reaching out in rural counties she lost, but also beginning her canvassing in January as opposed to April. It's her third crack at it.Bohannan lost to Republican Rep. House.Miller-Meeks is digging in for a difficult campaign, describing Bohannan as a “radical progressive.” If Bohannan pulls off a victory this time, it could be the first ripple of what Democrats see as a potential national wave.The Democrat is reaching into rural counties to shave the Republican edgeThat's why Bohannan was in Louisa County, a place she did not visit in the months leading up to the 2024 election, when she lost to Miller-Meeks by only 799 votes.It was the second-closest House race that year, and far closer than Bohannan's loss in 2022, when she fell short by 23,000 votes.Iowa's 1st District is a microcosm of the state, largely rural with urban and suburban pockets.
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