Top state and national party leaders at a fundraiser in Iowa City this weekend urged a crowd of Iowa Republicans to focus on two key races.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin spoke early Saturday afternoon at the fundraiser for Iowa Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks. He told the crowd Democrats will “change the fabric” of the country if they win races like hers in November. “We know what they’re trying to do. They’re trying to take back Iowa. They’re fighting your senate seat and they’re fighting a House seat. Iowa’s better than that,” Mullin said. “…You guys cannot allow the Democrats to get a foothold.”
Florida Senator Rick Scott was also there and made the pitch for both Miller-Meeks and Ashley Hinson, who’s running for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican Joni Ernst. “If we don’t have a majority in the House and the majority in the Senate, nothing good will happen for two years. Nothing,” Scott said. “…We don’t know how close it’s going to be. If you look at all these polls, they say Democrats have a lead right now and they’re going to do really well, so we can’t lose a seat.”
Miller-Meeks, who won her first race for the U.S. House by six votes, said Democrats are pretending to be something they’re not and would undo Republican priorities. “Don’t give them the opportunity to take away your opportunity,” Miller-Meeks said.
Miller-Meeks, who faces Democrat Christina Bohannan for the third time, finished just 799 votes ahead of Boahannan in 2024. Miller-Meeks said she and her supporters are being “underestimated” by national Democrats and Bohannan again this year. “She’s going to find out this November that we do not back down, we do not back up, we do not back out,” Miller-Meeks said, as the crowd cheered. “We are going to win in November.”
A spokesman for the Miller-Meeks campaign said just over 180 people attended the event. Bohannan released a written statement, saying Miller-Meeks
“brought Washington politicians here to fundraise at a tailgate, while Iowans are paying higher prices on burgers, brats, and gas because of their reckless votes.”