It’s the closest congressional race in the country and recounts in all 24 counties of Iowa’s second congressional district are completed. Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks finished ahead of Democrat Rita Hart by six votes.
Results from Clinton and Scott Counties are scheduled to be forwarded to the state Monday, then results for all races in the state, including this one, will be certified by the state’s executive council later tomorrow.
Hart’s campaign has not explicitly said it will be going to court to seek another recount, but suggested some “legitimate votes” had not been counted over the past two weeks. M
iller-Meeks, who spoke with Radio Iowa this weekend, said “the ballots have been counted numerous times” and she looks forward to being certified as the winner on Monday. Miller-Meeks said she spent much of her Saturday “repeating the Serenity Prayer” and she thanked election officials who conducted the recount process.
As for preparing for a court challenge ahead, Miller-Meeks said she’s abiding by “an old saying in the military that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”
On Election Night, Miller-Meeks led Hart by 282 votes – out of nearly 400,000 cast in the second district race. The race narrowed as more than 400 eligible absentee ballots, provisional ballots and overseas ballots were added to the district-wide tally, along with a few precinct-level errors discovered by county election officials as well as adjustments due to recounted ballots.