22 days after Election Day, The Associated Press declared US Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks the winner. She will represent Iowa’s 1st Congressional District.
Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks will serve Iowa’s 1st Congressional District in Congress. The Associated Press called the race for the incumbent one day before Thanksgiving.
The AP put Miller-Meeks’ final winning margin at 798 votes.
The race was a rematch for Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan, who first took on Miller-Meeks in 2022. While last year’s results were decisively in Miller-Meeks’ favor, this race was rated a toss-up by political analysts. And that proved true.
On election night, Miller-Meeks was ahead by just over 800 votes, less than 0.2% of the 414,000 ballots cast. Bohannan called for a 20-county recount. But as of The AP’s call, the winning margin remained in Miller-Meeks favor.
“This comes as no surprise, but I’m grateful the race has been called by AP and very appreciative of all the county auditors, staff and volunteers who worked tirelessly to get the recount done, even this week of Thanksgiving. I’m honored and humbled to be re-elected to a 3rd term,” Miller-Meeks wrote on X.
“I want to thank our election officials and volunteers who worked tirelessly to ensure every lawful vote was counted in this election. And I especially want to thank Iowans for their patience during this process. I congratulate Mariannette Miller-Meeks on her victory. In her next term, I hope she will listen to Iowans and deliver for the hardworking people who depend on her to represent them,” Bohannan said in a statement.
This lead is much larger than Miller-Meeks’ 282-vote lead on election night in 2020. That was the last time the results of Miller-Meeks’ race changed over the course of a recount.
