Can Democrat Christina Bohannan beat Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks during the second contest between them in 2024? One can only hope… and do everything possible to see that she does. Going into her sixth campaign for the Congress, Miller-Meeks has become a wing-nut institution. Iowans deserve better.

When Miller-Meeks first ran against Congressman Dave Loebsack in 2008 she got shellacked 57.2 percent to 35.4 percent. In 2010, Republicans regained lost ground in Iowa, yet Loebsack beat Miller-Meeks for the second time, 51.0 to 45.9 percent. In 2014, Miller-Meeks lost to Loebsack for the third time 52.5 to 47.4 percent. As many of us recall, when Dave Loebsack retired in 2020, Miller-Meeks beat Rita Hart by six votes. After decennial redistricting, she was re-elected in 2022, without moving into the district, defeating Christina Bohannan 53.4 to 46.6 percent. Iowa began turning deep red in 2010 and while it took Miller-Meeks a while to get going, she followed the trend.

I met Miller-Meeks at a 2008 parade in Johnson County. Costumed as a physician, she circulated among people along the parade route next to her “ambulance.” Good times. During one parade, I had a conversation with her about abortion, the constant conservative issue since Roe v. Wade was decided. “It’s settled law,’ she said. “So that is that,” I said to myself. We now know she jumped on the Dobbs bandwagon when it overturned Roe.

Where to begin with wing nut Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA01)? As a Member of Congress she has learned the double-speak of Washington politicians. These days it is hard to separate truth from hyperbole from outright misrepresentation. She didn’t always used to be this way.

When Terry Branstad was elected governor in 2010, he appointed Miller-Meeks as director of the Iowa Department of Public Health. I wrote a couple of posts after her appointment, including this paragraph:

Where Iowa’s public health is likely to suffer under a (Miller-Meeks) directorship is in developing an understanding of the relationship between Iowa’s agricultural and energy systems with public health. In “Iowa Coal & Health: A Preliminary Mapping Study” by McCue, Deaton, Nost and Rachow the authors point to inadequate collection of data in Iowa regarding adverse health events. While the IDPH does collect data used in the study, the quality of data was a constant source of criticism by geographers who collaborated on the project who were familiar with similar data in other states. It seems unlikely that MMM will invest in data collection improvements despite affirmation of support for the methods of scientific inquiry during her congressional campaign. At the same time, as a proponent of nuclear power to control toxic emissions from coal fired power plants and concentrated animal feeding operations in the state, she is expected to kick the ball down the road for the decades it would take to bring adequate megawatts of nuclear energy on line.

MMM and the Iowa Department of Public Health, Blog for Iowa, Dec. 11, 2010.

12 years later, my position was vindicated. Her views regarding energy in the Iowa economy haven’t changed but her messaging has.

In an Aug. 17 column in the Solon Economist, she bashed what she called “President Biden’s radical energy policies.”

For two years, Americans suffered the consequences of President Biden’s reckless and misguided energy policies. Low to middle-income hard-working families are bearing the brunt of Biden’s all-out war on domestic fuel production which led to record inflation, weakened our national security, and constrained American energy production. House Republicans passed H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, the first pro-energy permitting reform in 40 years, to empower our producers to deliver the affordable and reliable energy that our country needs to thrive.

Following through on our commitment to America by Mariannette Miller Meeks, The Solon Economist, Aug. 17, 2023.

Where to start with this paragraph of malarkey? In the first place, The U.S. House passed H.R. 1, The Lower Energy Costs Act with only four Democratic votes. It was hardly bipartisan. Perhaps the reason few Democrats voted for it is the bill fulfills a wish list for the fossil fuel industry, including the following:

The bill expedites the development, importation, and exportation of energy resources, including by

• waiving environmental review requirements and other specified requirements under certain environmental laws,
• eliminating certain restrictions on the import and export of oil and natural gas,
• prohibiting the President from declaring a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing (a type of process used to extract underground energy resources),
• directing the Department of the Interior to conduct sales for the leasing of oil and gas resources on federal lands and waters as specified by the bill, and
• limiting the authority of the President and executive agencies to restrict or delay the development of energy on federal land.

In addition, the bill reduces royalties for oil and gas development on federal land and eliminates charges on methane emissions.

It also eliminates a variety of funds, such as funds for energy efficiency improvements in buildings as well as the greenhouse gas reduction fund.

H.R. 1 – 118th Congress 2023-2024.

Miller-Meeks would undo progress made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to support the fossil fuel industry. She would hobble efforts to produce the affordable, clean energy she purports to support.

Importantly, H.R. 1 went nowhere: It was not taken up by the Democratic U.S. Senate. It seems premature for Miller-Meeks to be doing a victory dance.

Miller-Meeks held a town hall meeting in Iowa City on Aug. 14. Tom Cook of Iowa City attended and had this report, published in the Cedar Rapids Gazette:

One can see how far out of touch Miller-Meeks is with Iowans by her description of the same event in her Aug. 20 newsletter to constituents.

I’m still waiting for her to listen to First District voters about energy policy. If she would listen, I’m skeptical of persuading her to break free from the influence of fossil fuel companies. She’s not listening to anyone but lobbyists in Washington D.C.

If you would like to help Christina Bohannan defeat this wing nut, sign up on the website located here.