Democrats narrowly avoid the Iowa election challenge they reportedly dreaded
Rita Hart, the Democratic candidate in the 2020 race to represent Iowa's 2nd Congressional district, announced Wednesday she was dropping her election challenge, meaning Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) will retain the seat after winning an incredibly tight contest by just six votes.
Running to represent the people of #IA02 in the U.S. House of Representatives has been one of the greatest honors of my life. I could not have done it without all of you. Read my statement from today here: pic.twitter.com/ustS72pWsq
— Rita Hart (@RitaHartIA) March 31, 2021
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) already tweeted out a celebratory photo, but the GOP may not be the only happy party. There was reportedly quite a bit of concern about the challenge on the other side of the aisle, as well. Punchbowl News' Jake Sherman tweeted that Hart's announcement was what "many, many, many in [Democratic] leadership were privately hoping for," explaining that there was a belief the challenge would be "expensive and time consuming" and "was already dividing Democrats."
Politico's Melanie Zanona expanded on that last point, noting that "moderate" and "vulnerable" House Democrats were concerned about the "optics" of tossing out a state-certified victory.
This comes as moderate & vulnerable House Dems were growing increasingly worried about the potential optics of tossing out a state-certified victory.
And the GOP has been working to make this a huge liability for Dems; @GOPLeader is even in the district with @RepMMM today.
— Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) March 31, 2021