Iowa — 1st District

Banking on voter frustration with the two-party system, congressional hopeful Michael Bridgford is making the case for an independent voice in southeastern Iowa, telling voters "the I in Iowa is for independence."

The self-employed independent financial adviser, who is challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks in the Nov. 3 general election, called to take on the partisan political system in his speech at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox on Saturday, Aug. 15.

"Unfortunately, when people get elected now and go to Washington, you're given a red jersey, you're given a blue jersey, and you go to battle," Bridgford said. "You're doing what's best for the party, not what's best for the country. And that's what's putting us in this place. We need people that are wearing jerseys that are saying, 'I'm here to work with anyone that wants to solve problems.'"

Here's what he said at the Register Soapbox. He is the only 1st District candidate appearing at the Soapbox this year.

Bridgford seeks to appeal to sizeable no-party voting bloc

He's making an appeal to the sizeable bloc of registered "no party" voters in the 1st District. There are 150,133 active registered "no party" voters and 3,263 voters registered as "other" in the district, according to August data from the Iowa Secretary of State.

Republicans have 166,348 active registered voters, an advantage over Democrats' 144,161 registered voters.

With a narrow Republican House majority, he said "just two independents could have a tremendous impact on Day One in our politics" to force votes on issues such as term limits and campaign finance overhaul.

"Look, we need to restore decency to our politics," Bridgford said. "I'm not here to speak negatively against the candidates that I'm running against. I'm sure that if they lived in my neighborhood, we'd be friends. We'd have the occasional garage beer. And that's how things should be. It's not the people, it's the system. We have a system that has captured folks with the special interest money and the party-boss dynamic where they're not able to act in accordance with their own principles."

Bridgford pushes action on AI, agriculture, health care

Bridgford said Congress was "playing football" with artificial intelligence policy at the national level and leaving it to the states. He contends the U.S. should still "be a leader in AI," but said "if our communities don't want data centers, we shouldn't have data centers."

He blasted Congress for failing to pass a new Farm Bill "truly focused on our family farms" and year-round E-15, ethanol-blended gas. The House passed a standalone E15 bill and its own Farm Bill, but neither measure has advanced in the Senate.

Bridgford told reporters the U.S. Constitution makes clear Congress has power over tariff authority and he thinks the legislative branch has abdicated "far too much power" to the executive branch.

He told reporters he would not have supported Republicans' year-old tax law dubbed the "One Big, Beautiful Bill" as it stands, saying Medicaid cuts negatively affected rural health care and the measure overall added to the national debt.

"As an independent candidate where you could really make a difference, I view it as how you could impact the bill to make it something you would vote for versus just being a yes or no vote on," Bridgford said.

Iowa voters want 'something new,' Bridgford says

The 1st District matchup is among the nation's top battleground congressional contests. Elections observers consider the race a "toss-up," meaning either candidate has a fair shot of winning.

Democrat Christina Bohannan, who's trying a third time to unseat Miller-Meeks, held a $733,837 advantage over Miller-Meeks as her latest fundraising haul pushed her war chest to $5.4 million after the second quarter of 2026, federal reports show. Bridgford ended the quarter with $124,859 in cash on hand.

Bridgford acknowledged he is his own campaign's largest donor during his speech and said he has a volunteer campaign staff of about 20. Despite trailing the candidates in polling and fundraising, he maintained his message will resonate with fatigued voters.

"I'm not saying that money doesn't matter in politics," he told reporters. "It clearly does. But I think in this situation ... it's a three-time rematch of the same two somewhat fatigued candidates. There's been a lot of negativity against each other. I think people are really looking for something new."