Jeff Kauffman. (GOP photo)
The chairman of the Iowa Republican Party is blasting Democrat Rita Hart for seeking a second recount in Iowa’s second congressional district race.
Eleven days ago, state officials certified Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa as the winner, by a six-vote margin. Hart plans to ask the U.S. House to order a recount of all ballots legally cast in the race. Iowa GOP chairman Jeff Kaufmann says Hart was wrong to skip her legal option to seek a review in state court.
“That is absolute, after-the-fact ridiculousness to suggest that somehow moving this to Nancy Pelosi…is somehow a legitimate way of doing it,” Kaufmann says. “Can it be done within the law? Yes. Should it be? I’m banking that 80% of Iowans will say, ‘No,’ except for the most hardcore of the left wingers.”
Kaufmann is calling on Democratic Congresswoman Cindy Axne of West Des Moines to denounce Hart’s request.
“What we’re trying to do right now is prevent an election from being stolen by Nancy Pelosi,” Kaufmann says.
Ian Mariani, a spokesman for Congresswoman Axne, said Axne and her office “are still reviewing the relevant laws and procedures” and offered no further comment.
Kaufmann rejects the idea Hart’s appeal to the U.S. House is similar to President Trump’s request that state legislatures intervene and award Trump their states’ Electoral College votes.
“The results of the second district congressional race have been officially certified by a bipartisan board. The State of Iowa has certified Miller-Meeks as the winner,” Kaufmann says. “The Electoral College and congress have not officially certified. There are still legal actions that can be taken in the presidential race.”
Hart says thousands of legally cast ballots in the second district race were not counted for various reasons, such as the box on the ballot next to a candidate’s name was not clearly filled in and went unrecognized in a machine recount.