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    • Christina Bohannan is seeking a recount in the Iowa District 1 race
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    Christina Bohannan is seeking a recount in the Iowa District 1 race

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    Democrat Christina Bohannan is seeking a recount in the close race against Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks in Southeast Iowa’s 1st Congressional District.

    Miller-Meeks leads the Iowa City Democrat by 801 votes, according to partially reported collated results, about two-tenths of a percentage point ahead of Bohannan. Miller-Meeks has already claimed victory in the race.

    In a statement Thursday morning, Bohannan campaign manager Jindalae Suh said the vote count resulted in “a razor-thin margin” and that recounts are expected in such a close race.

    “To be absolutely certain that every voter is heard, the Bohannan campaign will request a recount in all 20 counties in the district, as allowed by Iowa law,” Suh ​​said. “We have full confidence in this process and will accept the results, regardless of the outcome. All Iowans should feel confident that at the conclusion of this transparent, precinct-level process, every legal vote will be accurately counted and reported.”

    Miller-Meeks, a 69-year-old ophthalmologist and Army veteran who has an official address in Davenport but maintains a residence in Ottumwa, quickly declared victory Nov. 6 at Riverside Casino, although Bohannan did not budge .

    “This is yet another attempt by D.C. Democrats to thwart or delay the will of Iowa voters,” Miller-Meeks campaign adviser Alan Ostergren said in a statement Thursday. “This margin of victory is insurmountable. Bohannan is needlessly costing taxpayers money.”

    Regardless of the outcome of the recount, Republicans won enough seats to retain control of the US House. With President-elect Donald Trump winning a second term and Republicans taking control of the Senate, the GOP will have complete control of the federal government.

    Miller-Meeks, who had been seeking a House leadership position House GOP conference secretaryearlier this week, in a letter to colleagues, he noted his lead of about 800 votes.

    “… It is mathematically impossible for the field to be made up with the provisional ballots remaining to be counted,” Miller-Meeks wrote. “I have no doubt that my election will be certified and I will be victorious…by more than 6 votes.”

    She was first elected in 2020 in a close race that was decided by just six votes against Democrat Rita Hart. That race also went to a recount.

    What the candidates said in the election campaign

    Bohannan, a 53-year-old University of Iowa law professor, made a second bid to unseat the incumbent in a competitive rematch. She came closer to pulling off an upset than their 2022 matchup, when she trailed Miller-Meeks by 7 percentage points.

    The hotly contested race was considered a “toss-up,” the most competitive category, by nonpartisan election analysts with the Cook Political Report. It has attracted millions in ad spending from Democratic and Republican groups for its potential to be pivotal in determining which party wins control of the U.S. House.

    Bohannan had the fundraising edge for five consecutive quarters, which gave her an early boost by flooding the airwaves with her message and attacks on Miller-Meeks. She has raised $5.2 million this election cycle since the October midterms, surpassing Miller-Meeks’ $4.6 million.

    Democrats tried to take the seat by attacking Miller-Meeks’ record on reproductive rights, an issue that has been top of mind for some voters since Iowa’s new six-week abortion ban went into effect. It is also the first presidential election since Dobbs v. Jackson of the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, leaving abortion rights up to the states.

    But Miller-Meeks joined the chorus of Republicans who have come out on top by focusing campaign messages on the economy and immigration, playing on voter frustrations over the high price of food and other essentials and the influx of migrants at the southern border.

    Speaking to reporters on November 6, Miller-Meeks touted her record of connecting with voters in her district as the strategy that helped her win re-election.

    “I think all that availability, all that accessibility within communities brings support even across party lines,” she said.

    How does congressional districting work in Iowa?

    The recount commissions will meet in each county where the recount was requested.

    Iowa law allows the primary candidate and last-minute candidate to select one person to serve on a recognition board in each county where a recount will be held. Those two campaign appointees must then agree on a third member of the recount board.

    If the two members of the recount board appointed by the campaigns cannot agree on a third member, the chief judge of the respective county constituency appoints the final member.

    Once the recognition board is formed, it must undertake the recount “as expeditiously as possible”.

    More: Four close races in Iowa likely headed for a recount. Here’s how it would work

    The process is overseen by county auditors and their staff. The recount commissions recount the votes in the race only where a recount has been requested.

    The recognition commission must complete its work and submit a report no later than the 18th day after the county review.

    If the recount race is within 50 votes or 1 percentage point, whichever is greater, the state covers the cost of the recount.

    Otherwise, the candidate requesting the recount must post a bond that would be refunded only if the winner of the race changes.

    What is the probability that the recount will change the outcome of the race?

    Miller-Meeks survived a recount before in 2020 when she faced Hart for what was then the 2nd Congressional District before it was redrawn. It spanned much of the same geographic area as the current District 1.

    Miller-Meeks’ initial lead of 47 votes was reduced to just six votes out of nearly 400,000 votes cast after a recount at the district level. This was the closest margin of any federal election in the country in 2020.

    A analysis of reports at the state level from 2000 to 2023, which was recently released by FairVote, a nonpartisan advocacy group promoting voting reform, found that it is extremely rare for a recount to reverse the outcome of a race.

    The last statewide recount to reverse a race was the 2008 U.S. Senate race in Minnesota.

    Miller-Meeks’ campaign in a statement Thursday called the story a “delay tactic to thwart the will of the people.”

    The analysis found just three reversals, or one in every 2,310 statewide elections. All occurred when the initial margin was less than 0.06% of all votes cast for the top two candidates, which is a smaller margin than where the District 1 race is.

    “A recount will not materially change the outcome of this race because the congressman’s lead is mathematically impossible to overcome,” the campaign said. “Mariannette was humbled to win the support of the majority of voters, and we remain confident that Mariannette Miller-Meeks has been re-elected to a third term.”

    Des Moines Register reporters Michaela Ramm and Stephen Gruber-Miller contributed to this article

    Marissa Payne covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. Reach her by email at [email protected]. Follow X, formerly known as Twitter, at @marissajpayne.

    (This article has been updated to add new information and because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.)

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