Democrat Christina Bohannan is contrasting the Democrats' recent momentum in Congress with her opponent's first term in the U.S. House.
Before trying a deep-fried candy bar at the Iowa State Fair, she went after Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks for voting against a laundry list of her party's recent wins. Miller-Meeks didn’t support a $280 billion investment in domestic chip manufacturing and scientific research. She does't support efforts to have the federal government negotiate for lower prescription drug prices as seen in the Inflation Reduction Act. She didn’t March's expanded versionof the Honoring our PACT Act, a bill to expand health care and benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits overseas, though last month, she did sign on to a version of the bill. And Bohannan criticized Miller-Meeks for her opposition to abortion rights.
“If we can afford to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to send our troops in harm's way around the world, we can spend a fraction of that to take care of them when they get home," she told a small gathered group at The Des Moines Register Political Soapbox Wednesday.
Bohannan says she wants Iowa to top the country in education through investment in all levels from K-12 on up to higher education. She says building Iowa’s unions will help create better paying, safer jobs. She points to the two-thirds of Iowa counties that lost population and says it's hard to keep people here as rural schools and hospitals shutter their doors.
“You know the thing is, when I go all over and I talk to people – Democrat, independent, a lot of Republicans – they know what we need to do. We all agree on a lot of what we need to do. The problem is politics are getting in our way," she said.
Bohannan, a state representative and University of Iowa law professor, will face Miller-Meeks this November in her bid for the new 1st Congressional District which includes Iowa City, Davenport and southeast Iowa.
While Miller-Meeks was at the Iowa State Fair Wednesday, she did not sign up to speak at the soapbox.
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