Share
News

Republican Holding On to Single-Digit Vote Lead as GOP Looks To Flip Another House Seat

Share

A Republican candidate saw her vote lead dwindle to single digits on Wednesday in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District as a dramatic recount neared the finish line in a race that will help determine the size of Democrats’ majority in the House of Representatives.

Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks held a lead of eight votes over Democrat Rita Hart out of more than 394,400 cast, with recount boards in all but one of the district’s 24 counties reporting their results.

Miller-Meeks is trying to flip a second congressional seat in Iowa for Republicans.

Hart cut into Miller-Meeks’ lead, which began Wednesday at 35 votes, but couldn’t quite erase it.

She netted 26 votes in Scott County after the recount board adjourned without addressing a discrepancy in the number of absentee ballots recorded.

On Wednesday night, she picked up one more vote in Jasper County after a machine recount of absentee ballots reduced a nine-vote net her campaign had earlier claimed.

Only Clinton County — where Hart lives on a Wheatland farm and served as an educator and state senator — is yet to report.

Clinton’s recount board has already reviewed most of its ballots, with Hart so far netting a single vote, according to county auditor Eric Van Lancker.

The board will return Saturday morning to finish recounting the last 5,000 to 6,000 absentee ballots, he said.

Do you think Miller-Meeks will hold on to win this House race?

A state canvassing board is expected to meet Monday, the legal deadline, to certify the results of the race.

The trailing candidate is likely to file legal action to contest the recount outcome, which would set in motion a proceeding run by a judicial panel.

If the candidates tie, state law would require that the winner’s name be drawn from a hat, bowl or some other receptacle.

The candidates are vying to replace Democratic Rep. Dave Loebsack, who is retiring after seven terms.

Hart requested a recount after counties’ initial certifications showed her trailing by 47 votes, following an election in which reporting errors flipped the lead back and forth between the candidates.

Related:
Conservative Group Prevails Over Fani Willis in Court Battle Over Trump Prosecution Records

The recount has been slow but dramatic as the race has tightened.

After the swings on Wednesday, Miller-Meeks unofficially has 196,958 votes while Hart has 196,950.

Scott County, the most populous in the district, had been set to certify the 26-vote swing that would help Hart erase most of Miller-Meeks’ lead. But the county board postponed the meeting late Tuesday after the auditor discovered the recount recorded 131 more absentee ballots than the earlier canvass.

The county’s recount board reconvened Wednesday morning to determine whether and how to address the discrepancy, which could be the result of a machine or math error, mistakenly counting a box twice, or discovering ballots that weren’t tabulated on election night.

The board ultimately voted 2-1 to adjourn, rejecting Miller-Meeks’ request for a fresh machine recount of absentee ballots.

“The recount of absentee ballots in Scott County was unreliable,” Miller-Meeks campaign attorney Alan Ostergren said.

Hart campaign manger Zach Meunier said the “careful, thorough, bipartisan recount dramatically shrank the gap between the candidates.”

Compared to the county’s earlier canvass, Miller-Meeks added 79 votes to Hart’s 105.

Miller-Meeks’ campaign has already argued that the process used in Scott County to recount the votes was illegal. It entailed using a machine to recount the ballots, and then examining by hand those that the machine could not read to determine voter intent.

Miller-Meeks’ representatives argue Iowa law requires recounts to be done either by machine or hand, not a combination of the two.

Hart’s campaign notes that the process has been approved by the recount board, which includes representatives of both campaigns and one neutral person, and is backed by a Scott County legal opinion.

In Jasper County, a ballot tabulating machine broke down during the recount and had to be repaired, according to county auditor Dennis Parrott.

Miller-Meeks’ campaign alleged that, once repaired, the machine could not reliably read ballots and disputed the count after Hart gained nine votes.

The recount board brought in a new tabulating machine on Wednesday afternoon to recount 10,999 absentee ballots that were in question, Parrott said.

The recount resulted in Miller-Meeks losing a vote in the county and Hart’s total staying the same.

It turns out the 6-year-old tabulating machine used previously was not reading ballots correctly after technicians changed its cameras, he said.

Now the district’s attention turns to Clinton, where the auditor said the recount board will convene Saturday at 8:30 a.m. and work for hours.

“To draw a U.S. congressperson out of a coffee cup, I don’t know about that one, right? But we have these rules. If we come up with a tie, we’ve got the tiebreaker,” Van Lancker said.

“I’m confident because of the processes that we have, we’re going to get to a result that we can be confident in.”


[jwplayer dB7yksGw]

The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.

Truth and Accuracy

Submit a Correction →



We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

Tags:
, , , , , ,
Share
The Associated Press is an independent, not-for-profit news cooperative headquartered in New York City. Their teams in over 100 countries tell the world’s stories, from breaking news to investigative reporting. They provide content and services to help engage audiences worldwide, working with companies of all types, from broadcasters to brands. Photo credit: @AP on Twitter
The Associated Press was the first private sector organization in the U.S. to operate on a national scale. Over the past 170 years, they have been first to inform the world of many of history's most important moments, from the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the bombing of Pearl Harbor to the fall of the Shah of Iran and the death of Pope John Paul.

Today, they operate in 263 locations in more than 100 countries relaying breaking news, covering war and conflict and producing enterprise reports that tell the world's stories.
Location
New York City




Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.

Conversation