Iowa — 1st District

Southeastern Iowa voters will see a familiar matchup in one of the nation's most competitive U.S. House races, but an independent candidate is adding a new dynamic that could complicate the repeat battle.

Democrat Christina Bohannan is challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks for a third time since 2022 in one of the nation's marquee U.S. House matchups. Independent candidate Michael Bridgford also is running for the seat, aiming to capitalize on voters' frustrations with the two-party system.

The 1st Congressional District encompasses 20 counties, including the cities of Davenport, Iowa City, Keokuk and Indianola.

To help voters, the Des Moines Register sent questions to all federal and Des Moines area legislative candidates running for political office this year. Their answers have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

The general election is Nov. 3.

Click below to learn more about the candidates and where they stand on key issues:

| Bios | Top issue | Cost of living | Immigration | Health care access | Tariffs | Iran war |

Who is Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks?

Political party: Republican Party.

Age: 71.

Town of residence: Ottumwa, with my husband, Curt.

Occupation: Retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, doctor, mother, grandmother and representative for the people.

Education: I left home at 16 for community college as a first-generation student. After enlisting in the Army at 18, I earned my nursing degree from Texas Christian University and medical degree from the University of Texas while serving. I found my home at the University of Iowa, completing my ophthalmology residency.

Political experience: Retiring as an Army lieutenant colonel after 24 years, I practiced ophthalmology across southeast Iowa. Seeing patients unable to afford care drove me to fix our broken health care system. I served as president of the Iowa Medical Society and director of the Iowa Department of Public Health. I was elected to the Iowa Senate in 2018 and to Congress in 2020 to take an independent stance for the people of Iowa.

Who is Christina Bohannan?

Political party: Democratic Party.

Age: 55.

Town of residence: Iowa City.

Occupation: Professor, University of Iowa College of Law.

Education: Growing up in a town of 700, neither of my parents graduated high school, but public education allowed me to work my way through high school and the University of Florida to earn an environmental engineering degree. After working as an engineer, I went back to UF and graduated with a law degree.

Political experience: In 2020, I took on the political establishment to defeat a 20-year incumbent. In the legislature, I was an independent voice — voting to protect Second Amendment gun rights and women’s rights to reproductive freedom. In 2024, I ran for this seat to clean up Washington and take on the corruption that’s costing us. I am running to end corruption and political division — and to put all Iowans first.

Who is Michael Bridgford?

Political party: No party (independent).

Age: 41.

Town of residence: Bettendorf.

Occupation: Small business owner, financial adviser.

Education: Master of business administration, Northwestern University.

Political experience: Everyday American citizen exhausted by failed government.

What would be your top issue if elected?

Bohannan (D): COSTS: I would repeal unnecessary tariffs, stop corporate price gouging, and bring down the cost of gas, groceries and housing to keep more money in your pocket. HEALTH CARE: I would restore Medicaid, fully extend the Affordable Care Act to lower premiums, and expand Medicare to cover dental, vision and hearing. I’ll take on drug companies to cap insulin at $35 a month for everyone and allow Medicare to negotiate lower prices on drugs. I’ll fight for rural hospitals. CORRUPTION: I would ban congressional stock trading, institute term limits and age caps and end politicians' personal use of taxpayer dollars.

Bridgford (I): To lower costs, protect Social Security and reform health care, we must first fix our broken government. Today’s hyperpartisan Congress is the least productive in modern history because career politicians prioritize special interests over the American people. As an independent, my top priority is structural reform: passing term limits, addressing campaign finance reform, requiring single-issue bills and overhauling rules to force bipartisan committees. Fixing Congress is the first step to being able to address the pressing issues facing Iowans.

Miller-Meeks (R): My top issue is keeping Iowa safe and affordable, so seniors can retire here, young people can start a family here, and workers can find a good-paying job. For seniors, that means keeping Social Security tax free and protecting Medicare. For young families, it means building on the housing law I passed to keep Wall Street out of Iowa neighborhoods and put a first home within reach. For workers, it means no tax on tips or overtime and manufacturing jobs coming back instead of going overseas. And for everyone, that means lower health costs, beating cancer, backing police and a secure border.

How can Congress help Iowans struggling with high costs?

Bridgford (I): Congress can lower costs for Iowa families through fiscal responsibility, ending trade wars and stopping the Iran war. Reckless deficit spending accelerates inflation across the board, including for groceries, housing and utility bills. Broad tariffs are taxing us and have triggered retaliation against Iowa’s ag economy. And the escalating conflict with Iran has spiked gas prices, showing why we must end costly foreign wars and support local biofuels. As an independent, I’ll work with both sides to balance the budget, open our ag markets and protect Iowans from foreign energy shocks.

Miller-Meeks (R): Iowans are paying too much for groceries, gas, housing and health insurance, and Congress must act on all of them. Record diesel prices end up in the price of food, so stop shipping American diesel overseas until Iowans can afford it, and immediately pause the federal and state gas tax. Then take on the corporations driving prices up. I wrote the bill to break up the middlemen who mark up your prescriptions, and I am taking on big insurance to lower insurance premiums. And I passed the housing law that stops Wall Street from buying up Iowa neighborhoods, so a young family can afford a home.

Bohannan (D): I believe that if you work hard, you should get ahead. But Rep. Miller-Meeks is working for corporations, billionaires and special interests — not for us. I’ll take on corporate price gouging that is causing everyday costs to skyrocket, as well as the private equity firms that are buying up Iowa properties and making housing and farmland more expensive. I’ll end the reckless tariffs that are wreaking havoc on household budgets, and overturn the health care cuts that are raising premiums for Iowans. I’ll fight for higher wages and stronger protections for organized labor.

How do you rate President Trump’s handling of immigration, and what should Congress’ role be in setting immigration policy?

Miller-Meeks (R): A nation without borders is not a nation. Under Biden and Harris, we saw over 10 million illegal crossings and fentanyl flooding into our towns. President Trump has done what he said he would do, and crossings are at their lowest in decades. The job is not finished, and Congress must fully fund the Border Patrol, enforce our immigration laws and deport criminals here illegally. My opponent donated to a fund that bails illegal immigrants out of detention, and voted twice against Iowa's Back the Blue law, which gave officers better health coverage and stopped cities from defunding police.

Bohannan (D): We need a secure border. But Washington politicians of both parties have been kicking the can down the road, refusing to do their job to put us on a sustainable path that protects our borders and solves our immigration crisis. I support comprehensive immigration reform that fixes our broken immigration system and creates a lawful and orderly process for immigrants. I believe in national sovereignty and our need to protect our own borders; I also believe immigration enforcement officers should be held to the same standards of professionalism and accountability as other law enforcement officers.

Bridgford (I): President Trump rightly prioritized border security, but executive orders are temporary solutions. Immigration policy sits with Congress. For decades, both parties have weaponized this issue for political gain instead of passing legislation. Congress must step up to fully secure our borders, streamline legal immigration to support Iowa’s ag economy and enforce clear, fair rules that treat people with decency. I will be in a position to work across the aisle to pass permanent, common-sense legislation that keeps our communities safe, treats people respectfully and powers Iowa's economy.

What steps should Congress take to make health care more affordable and accessible?

Bohannan (D): Congress should repeal the Medicaid cuts and fully fund our rural hospitals, many of which have cut services or closed entirely because of Miller-Meeks’ votes to cut funding. I believe we should extend the ACA premium credits to lower premiums. Medicare should expand to include dental, hearing and vision benefits, and it should be able to negotiate on more drug costs so seniors get lower prices. I will take on the pharmaceutical and insurance industries, which have controlled Miller-Meeks’ votes in Congress in exchange for campaign contributions in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Bridgford (I): Both parties play political football with healthcare while the special interests that fund both sides keep our prices sky-high. To make care affordable and accessible, Congress must mandate total price transparency so patients know costs upfront, rein in middlemen (PBMs) to slash prescription drug prices and protect rural Iowa hospitals from closing by increasing Medicare reimbursement rates. As an independent, with no funding by Big Pharma or insurance PACs, I’ll fight for practical fixes that lower costs and protect rural access.

Miller-Meeks (R): I spent decades as a doctor watching insurers raise premiums and deny claims while middlemen marked up my patients' prescriptions. That is why I wrote the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act, which breaks up the middlemen and lowers premiums. The House passed it, and the Senate should. Care also has to stay close to home, so I brought Iowa $209 million to keep rural hospitals open and $825,000 to reopen the hospital in Keokuk. And Medicaid has to be there for those it was built for, so I voted to take illegal immigrants off taxpayer-funded benefits, which my opponent opposed.

Have President Trump’s tariffs helped or hurt Iowans? What changes would you push for in Congress to shape the White House tariff and agriculture policy?

Bridgford (I): Iowa has been hurt by broad tariffs that triggered retaliation against our ag economy and caused inflation. Tariffs are a valid tool to be applied surgically, not broadly to strain relationships with allies. For ag policy, Congress must stop stalling and pass a modern Farm Bill. Farmers are in a crisis and need legislation focused on improved crop insurance, expanded biofuel/E15 access and attractive conservation programs. Our ag communities are not being represented in Congress by either party and need independent representation to prioritize their needs against the special interests.

Miller-Meeks (R): They have done both. Tariffs have opened markets for Iowa corn, pork and ethanol, and they are bringing manufacturing jobs, including steel, back to this district instead of shipping them overseas. But some tariffs, like those on fertilizer, raised input costs at the worst time, so I led the fight to lift them. What farmers need most is certainty. In Congress, I will push to keep farm inputs off any tariff list, make every trade deal open markets for Iowa crops and finish the Farm Bill the House has already passed. Tariffs should be a tool for better deals, not a permanent tax on Iowa ag.

Bohannan (D): These reckless tariffs are wreaking havoc on Iowa’s families, small businesses, and farmers — costing the average family $4,200 out of their pocket. The cost of everything, from food to cars to building materials, has been increasing — but despite the harm these tariffs do to working families, Miller-Meeks has voted again and again in favor of them. For our farmers, the price of seed, fertilizer, and equipment was high even before the tariffs — but the tariffs have made the problem worse while also damaging trade relationships and valuable markets. The tariffs must be repealed.

Do you agree or disagree with the Trump administration’s approach to the Iran war? What oversight role should Congress play?

Miller-Meeks (R): Twenty-four years in the Army taught me two things: You do not send Americans into harm's way lightly, and you do not leave them there without a plan. In March, I said the mission had to stay focused and limited, because Americans do not want another forever war. The Iranian regime and its nuclear ambitions have been defanged, and I will not vote to keep our soldiers in an open-ended war while Iowans pay too much at the pump. The president needs to present a plan to Congress and the American people for how this ends, so we can bring our soldiers home.

Bohannan (D): The war in Iran is irresponsible, with no end in sight. It has killed more than a dozen Americans and severely depleted our stockpile of missile interceptors, threatening our national security. It has drastically increased prices on gas and diesel, and will increase the cost of this year’s harvest. And we are no closer to preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Congress should have done its job and ended the war months ago. But Rep. Miller-Meeks voted to extend the war five times — doing what her party bosses told her to do, not what her constituents need her to do.

Bridgford (I): Congress must reassert its constitutional war powers and bring the Iran war to an end. This has now extended beyond six months and has driven up fuel and fertilizer prices, destabilized energy markets and cost American lives without a clear strategy. Under Article I, only Congress has the power to declare war. As an independent, I will demand strict oversight and transparent debates. We need to focus on the serious domestic issues facing our country. The national debt now is more than $40 trillion and it is estimated that since 2001 foreign wars have cost us over $8 trillion. This must end.