To: Interested Parties
From: Katie Smith, DCCC Regional Press Secretary
Date: June 2, 2026
Subject: The Case Against Mariannette Miller-Meeks
Mariannette Miller-Meeks has quadrupled down on what Iowans hate most about politics: insiders selling them out to the special interests and doing their bidding. Whether it’s renting from lobbyists for Big Pharma, taking cash from an insulin manufacturer the same day she votes against capping insulin costs, or raking in tens of thousands from insurance companies while pushing a bill to undermine protections for preexisting conditions, it’s clear who Miller-Meeks works for – them, not us. Miller-Meeks has spent her entire career serving the special interests, while sticking us with the bill.
Her record couldn’t be in starker contrast to Christina Bohannan: growing up living in a mobile home park in a rural small town of 700, Christina understands the challenges facing regular Iowans. When her construction worker dad got sick and his insurance was canceled, her family was forced to choose between paying for his medicine and paying for everything else. Christina believes Iowans deserve common sense solutions and leaders who are actually on their side. At a time when corruption is infecting Washington, Christina has a plan to clean it up: banning all politicians from profiting from insider information and trading stocks, ending the revolving door of Members of Congress becoming lobbyists, creating an independent ethics agency to investigate corruption, banning taxpayer-funded first class travel, instituting term and age limits, and more.
Last cycle, this match-up was decided by just 799 votes. Thousands and thousands of Trump voters split their tickets to vote for Christina Bohannan in this Trump +8 district, as she ran further ahead of the top of the ticket than any other House challenger on the battlefield. After a barnburner last cycle, this race will once again be one of the most closely watched anywhere in the country and this time Christina is on strong footing to finish the job and defeat Miller-Meeks this November – because it’s time someone fought for Iowans.
Miller-Meeks Has Made Washington Worse: A Caricature of Washington Swamp Politics Fully in the Pocket of the Special InterestsThe sky is blue. Water is wet. The sun will rise. All constants in life – as regular and expected as Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ fealty to the special interests that fund her campaign.
Mariannette Miller-Meeks is one of Big Pharma’s biggest allies in Washington. She has taken nearly $700,000 from Big Pharma and insurance companies, and she has reliably voted their way. Miller-Meeks voted against allowing Medicare to negotiate the cost of insulin, on the same exact day she received campaign cash from the largest insulin manufacturer in the country.
Miller-Meeks – who sits on a subcommittee that oversees drug pricing issues – was even exposed for renting a D.C. condo from two lobbyists whose firm raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying for the biggest pharma interest group. This is the same group that Miller-Meeks has taken thousands in campaign contributions from. And when Miller-Meeks got caught, she refused to answer questions or disclose the arrangement of her lease to Iowans, leaving every voter wondering exactly what sweetheart deal she may have promised pharma through her lobbyist living arrangement. Although Miller-Meeks is the worst of Washington swamp politics, Christina’s reform agenda would put a stop to the many ways Miller-Meeks has used the system for her own gain.
Miller-Meeks Sides With Special Interests and Washington Bosses to Gut Rural Health Care, Close Clinics, and Make Care More Expensive
Big Pharma and the insurance lobby bankroll Miller-Meeks, and she reliably votes their way. Miller-Meeks voted for the largest cuts to Medicaid in history, then proudly bragged that “pharmaceutical companies are one that’s gonna benefit” from the Big, Ugly Bill.
Miller-Meeks puts special interests first and Iowans are feeling the devastating impacts. More than 25,500 people in Iowa’s 1st District are seeing their health care gutted and 24,000 are facing skyrocketing health care costs thanks to higher premiums after Miller-Meeks’ refusal to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits. Miller-Meeks’ vote for the Big, Ugly Bill has accelerated Iowa’s rural health care crisis, causing rural clinics across the state – in Wayland, Fort Madison, and Clinton – to reduce labor and delivery and inpatient services, lay off staff, and even close their doors, citing Medicaid cuts as the reason why. And this is just the beginning.
For months, rural health care leaders in the 1st District have sounded the alarm about the devastating impact that Miller-Meeks’ cuts will have on their operations. Like the CEO of Washington County Hospital and Clinic, who “pleaded with Iowa’s lawmakers to avoid making [Medicaid] cuts” and warned last summer that “hospitals will start feeling the financial squeeze within four to five months.” Miller-Meeks was even called out for the cuts at her own roundtable event by the CEO of Great River Health System, which has hospitals and clinics in West Burlington, Fort Madison, Wapello and Mount Pleasant, pushing Miller-Meeks for answers saying hospitals like his are “trying to figure out what to do.”
Miller-Meeks doesn’t seem to care. In fact, she thinks higher costs are a good thing, saying that high deductibles and copays give Iowans some “skin in the game” that incentivizes them to be healthier. This carelessness towards Iowans goes years back to when she suggested Iowans should gargle with salt water instead of seeing a doctor.
Miller-Meeks crusaded against key health care tax credits and claimed she was standing up to the insurance companies, while FEC records show she took tens of thousands of dollars from them. She pushed a bill that risked coverage for the more than 466,000 Iowans with preexisting conditions.
Christina Bohannan knows how broken the health care system is: her dad worked construction, and when he got sick, he lost his insurance and her family lost everything. Christina will work to fix the broken system by reversing the disastrous cuts, expanding drug price negotiation, allowing more Iowans to buy into Medicare, and investing in rural health care to tackle Iowa’s rural health crisis. Christina will work for Iowans while Miller-Meeks only sides with the special interests and her Washington bosses.
The Miller-Meeks Economy: Reckless Tariffs, Higher Prices, Screwing Farmers, Ag and Manufacturing in Crisis
Under Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ and Kim Reynolds’ leadership, Iowa’s economy is ranked worst in the nation. In the past year alone, Iowa has lost more than 20,000 jobs, including nearly 4,000 manufacturing jobs. Iowans have seen layoffs at John Deere, Whirlpool, and manufacturing facility TPI Composites. Farm bankruptcies are skyrocketing to levels previously not seen since the 1980s farm crisis, as the agricultural economy continues to crumble under Miller-Meeks’ failed leadership.
Despite promising to fix things, Miller-Meeks has made it worse. She unequivocally supports reckless tariffs, voting eight times with her Washington bosses to defend them and even suggesting codifying the cost-raising tariffs into law. Miller-Meeks’ tariffs upended Iowa’s economy, and working families are directly shouldering the burden and paying more for everything. Farmers across Southeast Iowa are in crisis, facing increased input costs and closed markets, as Miller-Meeks claims tariffs would benefit farmers… the very people bearing the brunt of her agenda. Instead of doing anything to help, Miller-Meeks was busy “defend[ing] the Trump Administration’s bailout of Argentina” that put a foreign country ahead of Iowa farmers.
To add insult to injury, Miller-Meeks is now standing firmly behind reckless and costly forever wars – like the one in Iran – costing Iowans’ lives and causing gas and fertilizer prices to skyrocket, directly impacting planting season for Iowa farmers who were already struggling with rising input costs due to the tariffs.
In sharp contrast with Miller-Meeks’ agenda of making everything more expensive, Christina will actually put Iowa families first. She’ll stand up to end the tariffs and the reckless war in Iran jacking up costs, crack down on price gouging and anti-competitive practices in the agricultural industry, and at every opportunity work to make sure the next generation of Iowans can thrive.
Corrupt Politician Miller-Meeks Drips with Disdain for Regular Iowans While Doing the Special Interests’ Bidding
Miller-Meeks said it best herself to Politico: she falls in line with Washington special interests, and Iowans get screwed.
Miller-Meeks took over $650,000 from the pharmaceutical and insurance industries, and voted their way, bragged about advancing their interests, and even rented an apartment from pharma lobbyists. She took more than $240,000 from Big Oil and oil CEOs, and voted their way to kill energy tax credits, eradicating good jobs in Iowa and lower electricity costs for families – despite previously admitting how crucial those tax credits were. Miller-Meeks received more than $1,500,000 from big banks and Wall Street donors while supporting a plan that risks Social Security benefits by putting them at the mercy of the stock market to boost Wall Street’s bottom line. And Miller-Meeks took more than $1,000,000 from Republican leadership, and voted with her party bosses 95% of the time.It’s no surprise then that Miller-Meeks refuses to face the people that she’s sold out over and over. Miller-Meeks was caught on tape admitting she wouldn’t hold a town hall – or do her job of listening to Iowans – until “hell freezes over.” When an Iowan tried to talk to her in the halls of the Capitol, Miller-Meeks said “I’m not going to talk to you” and ran away. Miller-Meeks responded to a constituent who asked her about the Medicaid cuts by dismissively telling them to “have an egg.”
Over and over, Miller-Meeks makes it clear she doesn’t respect Iowans. After spending 2024 repeatedly claiming she lived in the district – and even facing an ethics complaint for lying about her residency – Miller-Meeks moved back outside of IA-01 to her nearly million-dollar home. Miller-Meeks flies first class, while regular Iowans struggle to get by. And Miller-Meeks was caught paying her son out of her campaign for “consulting,” then tried to cover it up.
Miller-Meeks has made it abundantly clear: she thinks she is better than the Iowans she represents. While Miller-Meeks oozes with contempt for the regular people she must interact with who are impacted by her destructive agenda, Christina Bohannan shows up, listens, and will put them first. Politicians like Miller-Meeks have put partisanship, self-promotion, and personal profit ahead of regular Iowa families, but Christina understands what working families in Iowa are going through because she’s lived it. She will be the leader they need to stand up to politicians in Washington who are making their lives even harder, and she will fight so that every Iowan who works hard has the freedom and a fair shot to get ahead.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING:
Iowa Starting Line: “While sitting on a House subcommittee that oversees drug pricing, Iowa Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks was renting her DC apartment from lobbyists paid millions to fight prescription drug cost reforms on behalf of the pharmaceutical industry.” [Iowa Starting Line, 4/13/26]
The Gazette: “While serving on a House subcommittee that oversees drug pricing, Miller-Meeks rented a basement apartment on Capitol Hill from…two registered lobbyists whose firm represented the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA — the industry’s main lobbying group.” [The Gazette, 5/5/26]
CNN: A swing-district Iowa Republican says she’ll hold town halls ‘when hell freezes over’ [CNN, 10/6/25]
Heartland Signal: Mariannette Miller-Meeks took tens of thousands from insurance PACs while opposing ACA tax credit extension [Heartland Signal, 3/23/26]
Iowa Starting Line: Miller-Meeks, Nunn vote to cut Medicaid and SNAP [Iowa Starting Line, 5/22/25]
Iowa Starting Line: Miller-Meeks campaign says payment was ‘mistakenly’ made to son [Iowa Starting Line, 10/17/25]
American Journal: Miller-Meeks says costly insurance could lead to healthier lifestyles [American Journal, 2/18/26]
Quad-City Times: Mariannette Miller-Meeks changes voting address back to Ottumwa home [Quad-City Times, 12/12/25]
Politico: In windy Iowa, a GOP lawmaker faces a reckoning over Trump’s clean energy war [Politico, 9/1/25]
“President Donald Trump’s bid to kill wind power is straining the clean energy industry — and imperiling GOP lawmakers whose communities have seen wind as an economic boon. Few of those lawmakers are more endangered than Iowa’s Mariannette Miller-Meeks. […] she also cast a crucial vote for Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, which wiped out billions of dollars in wind’s economic incentives — throwing Iowa’s 50-plus wind-related companies into uncertainty.”
Radio Iowa: First district candidate Bohannan backs age limits, ethics reforms for congress [Radio Iowa, 11/20/25]
Des Moines Register: “Bohannan’s ethics package calls to ban stock trading by all members of Congress, the executive branch and Supreme Court justices as well as their spouses and staff. Bohannan called to end pay to all members of Congress, the executive branch and their staff during federal government shutdowns, and instead use that income to pay down the national debt. […] Bohannan cast Miller-Meeks as being “out of touch with everyday Iowans.” [Des Moines Register, 11/21/25]
The Gazette: “Bohannan argued Iowa’s 1st District needs a representative who isn’t aligned with special interests, criticizing Miller-Meeks for accepting campaign donations from individuals or political action committees affiliated with pharmaceutical and insurance companies, while supporting policies Bohannan says raises health care costs while benefiting corporate donors. Among Bohannan’s proposed [ethics plan] reforms is a complete ban on stock trading by members of Congress, executive branch officials and Supreme Court justices as well as their spouses and staff…” [The Gazette, 11/24/25]
The Gazette: Iowa congressional candidate Christina Bohannan says people of all ages should be able to buy into Medicare [The Gazette, 1/26/26]
Des Moines Register: Iowa Democrats outraise House GOP incumbents ahead of Iowa’s primary [Des Moines Register, 5/23/26]
PATH TO VICTORY:
After Miller-Meeks scraped by with just 799 more votes in 2024, Iowa’s First District is a prime pickup opportunity as Miller-Meeks finds herself completely underwater with the voters at -20 approval and Iowans face worsening economic, health care, and agricultural crises thanks to her votes.
Not since 2018 (when Democrats won IA-01, IA-02, and IA-03) has Iowa seen as competitive a Democratic ticket. With Rob Sand, who at the top of the ticket is running on an anti-corruption message and bipartisan problem solver ethos similar to Christina, his strength in the district will be an asset. Sand won more than fifty percent of the vote in IA-01 in both his 2018 and 2022 races, and at the top of the ticket, Democrats can expect a much more favorable environment than 2024.Christina’s impressive overperformance last cycle in this Trump +8 seat demonstrates she has the coalition to win in a year where Miller-Meeks faces growing headwinds and scandals of her own making. Christina’s strength in swingy Scott County where she received more than 51% of the two-way vote, and her proven ability to win Independents and pull Republicans will remain cornerstones of her path to victory this cycle as Independent voters are expected to make up a higher percentage of the midterm electorate and Republican voters continue to sour on Miller-Meeks. As Republicans crater with young voters, Iowa City being home to the largest college in the state means that Christina will be able to capitalize on their growing dissatisfaction with Miller-Meeks.
In stark contrast to Miller-Meeks, the more voters of all political parties hear from Christina Bohannan, the more they trust her.Miller-Meeks proved at every opportunity that she sides with the special interests who cut her campaign checks over Iowans, who she harbors clear disdain and disrespect for. Christina knows the struggle Iowans are facing because she’s lived them, and the voters of IA-01 will fire Miller-Meeks and elect Christina, because they know it’s time someone worked for Iowa. |
