The race for Iowa’s second district came down to a razor thin margin. Republican candidate Marianette Miller-Meeks won by a lead of just six votes. This is a flip, as the seat was previously held by a retiring Democrat.
This is an excellent reminder of the importance of vote integrity. A handful of votes decided this contest.
Zachary Oren Smith reports at the Iowa City Press-Citizen:
End of recount maintains Miller-Meeks lead in Iowa 2nd District U.S. House race; margin just 6 votesRepublican Mariannette Miller-Meeks remains atop Iowa’s 2nd District congressional race despite a Saturday recount in Clinton County that eroded her already single-digit lead to just six votes.The Clinton County tally concluded a recount in the 24-county southeast Iowa district, which extends from Jasper and Marion counties in the Des Moines metro to Davenport, and includes Iowa City and Burlington. The vote will go to a state canvassing board Monday to be certified, which would make Miller-Meeks the official winner.In a statement, Hart’s campaign manager, Zach Meunier, did not say whether the campaign will file a legal challenge in the race, the closest House election in the nation. That would trigger a review by a judicial panel and cast continued uncertainty over the outcome.”When we began this recount Rita Hart was down by 47 votes,” Meunier said. “As more ballots have been counted, the margin has narrowed dramatically and is now down to a mere 6 votes — making this the closest Congressional race in recent history, and one of the very closest in the last hundred years.
They don’t get much closer than this.
Miller-Meeks released this statement:
Messages of congratulations are already flowing in:
It’s amazing how well Republican House candidates did in this election, particularly women.
The pollsters got it so wrong.
Featured image via YouTube.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY