Iowa — 1st District

Democrat Taylor Wettach is running for Iowa's 1st Congressional District, aiming to unseat GOP Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks.

Wettach argues Democrats must campaign differently, focusing on rural areas and not just traditional strongholds.

He faces Christina Bohannan and Travis Terrell for the Democratic nomination in the highly competitive race.

KNOXVILLE — Democrat Taylor Wettach said his party would not flip Iowa’s 1st Congressional District seat by running the same playbook as in past elections, casting himself as a candidate who would show up in overlooked rural areas and push to lower costs for working Iowans.

Wettach, a 35-year-old Muscatine attorney who’s seeking his party’s nomination to oust GOP U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, said Democratic candidates have been "overly careful and overly measured" during a Saturday, Jan. 17 stop on his “Fair Shot for Iowa” tour of the 1st District.

The district spans 20 counties in southeastern Iowa, including Davenport, Iowa City, Keokuk and Indianola.

He visited Pleasantville, Knoxville and Oskaloosa on Saturday, speaking to small groups about the need to curb costs, improve health care access and end President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs.

Wettach said voters have turned away from Democrats and toward Trump or other Republicans because they have not felt heard by the Democratic Party.

To reverse that trend, Wettach said candidates need to campaign throughout the district in rural areas with more independent and Republican voters, not only urban "blue dots" that favor Democrats.

"While I think obviously the greatest threats to our country right now and to us winning in Iowa are what Trump and the Red Hat Gang are doing, I think Democrats need to have some soul-searching and say, 'Well, are we showing folks that we're fighting for them?'" Wettach told a group of about 10 gathered at El Rey Mexican Restaurant in Knoxville.

Speaking to reporters at Smokey Row in Oskaloosa, Wettach said he would look to build grassroots momentum around his campaign by showing up not only to Democratic Party events but also to community events to meet voters where they are.

Democrats can't campaign 'the same way again and again'

Acknowledging the "donkey in the room," Wettach said he was not dissuaded from joining the race because he is not the "establishment candidate," and he felt Iowans should have a say in who becomes the party's nominee.

“We don't win this race by doing things the same way again and again and again,” Wettach said. “We need a new vision. We need a new path forward for our district. I believe that right now, we need new, bold, energetic leadership.”

Other Democrats seeking the nomination in the race are University of Iowa law professor Christina Bohannan, who has failed twice to oust Miller-Meeks including a narrow 2024 loss, and University of Iowa Health Care worker Travis Terrell.

Wettach never mentioned Bohannan directly. But asked if his comments were a jab at Bohannan's campaign strategy, Wettach said Democrats need to "approach things in a way that's more active, going in more places, talking to everybody, getting out throughout this district" and speak about issues affecting voters.

Bohannan firmly held the fundraising lead in the third quarter of 2025 after raising $1.06 million between July and September, while Wettach brought in $429,099 and ended the quarter with $347,043 in his campaign coffers. Terrell raised $12,940 and had $6,143 in cash on hand. Fourth quarter figures will be reported by the end of January.

On the Republican side, Quad Cities Prayer Breakfast founder David Pautsch has launched a second primary campaign against Miller-Meeks after unsuccessfully challenging her in 2024 for the 1st District GOP nomination. Miller-Meeks reported a comfortable lead with $2.6 million in cash on hand to Pautsch's $8,825.

Political analysts rate the 1st District race a "tossup," meaning either party has a fair shot of nabbing the seat. National Democrats have placed it among their top targets in the 2026 midterms.

Emily Tuttle, spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, questioned Bohannan's campaign outreach in a statement while Wettach launched his district-wide tour and Terrell held a primary debate-turned-town hall on the UI campus in December.

“Where in the world is Christina Bohannan?" Tuttle said. "While her primary opponents are meeting with voters and debating ideas, Bohannan is hiding behind old photos and fundraising emails. After losing twice to Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Bohannan still can’t be bothered to show up for Iowans."

Bohannan's campaign has tallied more than a dozen stops throughout rural areas in the district. Those include a visit to Washington County Hospitals and Clinics to decry federal Medicaid spending cuts under the GOP tax and spending bill and a five-county candidate forum representing Iowa, Johnson, Keokuk, Washington and Louisa counties.

Bohannan said in a statement she has met Iowans across all corners of the district over the last several months.

"While (Miller-Meeks) refuses to answer to Iowans, I have crisscrossed the district to visit farmers hurt by chaotic tariffs, rural hospitals hurt by Medicaid cuts and small businesses and families hurt by skyrocketing (Affordable Care Act) premiums," Bohannan said. "It is time Southeast Iowa had a representative who puts politics and special interests aside — to put Iowa first."

'Rural revival' plan looks to spur investment in rural Iowa

As part of his pitch to rural voters, Wettach has unveiled a “rural revival” plan that looks to invest in renewable energy; restore competitive export markets for farmers and help them adopt “climate-smart” practices; and invest in infrastructure, health care and housing.

Democrats are campaigning heavily on health care after Republicans passed steep cuts to Medicaid under their "big, beautiful bill." Federal lawmakers continue to debate health care policy after Obamacare subsidies, called enhanced ACA premium tax credits, that kept health care plans more affordable, lapsed at the end of 2025.

Miller-Meeks voted against a three-year extension of the subsidies. She was the lead sponsor on a bill that looks to make health care less expensive without extending the enhanced tax credits.

Wettach said he wants to restore full federal Medicaid funding, preserve the ACA, restore reproductive rights and work toward adopting universal health care. He disputed concerns about the cost of implementing universal health care and said, "it is a choice what we choose to spend our money on" as a wealthy nation.

Wettach said the 1st District race was "not about left versus right, it's about right versus wrong."

"It's about a system rigged by those at the very top against the rest of us," Wettach said.

Eric Palmer, 65, of Oskaloosa, said he was undecided about who to support in the Democratic primary, but he thought Miller-Meeks has backed Trump's actions that have hurt Iowa's agricultural economy.

"I'm looking for somebody that will buck him when it comes to things like tariffs and trade policy," Palmer said. "We don't need handouts. We need markets, and we need people that are willing to support that."

Knoll Buddy, 72, of Bussey, said he has supported Bohannan in the past but is backing Wettach in the primary. He said whoever the Democratic nominee is will have his support in the November general election.

Buddy said Wettach's story of quitting his job after his former employer, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, was one of five law firms that agreed to provide $125 million in free legal work to the Trump administration for causes including veterans affairs and combating antisemitism to avoid punitive executive orders resonated with him.

And Buddy liked that Wettach was young, charismatic and intelligent, saying the party needs new blood.

"We're all for people that want to make change and go against the system that's in place," Buddy said. "Really, it's about Trump. It's about just getting people in there that we can fight what's going on with Trump."

Marissa Payne covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. Reach her by email at [email protected]. Follow her on X at @marissajpayne.