Voters in Jasper County have determined Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Democrat Rita Hart as the top nominees to compete for the vacant seat in Iowa’s Second Congressional District, according to unofficial results from the county auditor’s office.
The seat has been up for grabs ever since U.S. Congressman Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, announced in April 2019 he would not seek re-election in 2020.
One month after he announced his retirement, Loebsack publicly endorsed Hart, a former state senator who had previously — and unsuccessfully — run for Iowa’s Lieutenant Governor seat alongside running mate Fred Hubbell. Hart was the sole Democratic candidate vying for the second district seat.
The Republican candidates, however, had a slightly more difficult race. Out of the five candidates competing for the nomination, Jasper County Republicans chose Miller-Meeks, who is no stranger to running for this particular seat. Miller-Meeks ran and lost to Loebsack in 2008, 2010 and 2014.
The unopposed Hart received 2,895 votes (more than 99 percent) out of a total 2,911 votes in Jasper County. The 16 remaining votes were write-in submittals.
Miller-Meeks received 880 votes (more than 42 percent) out of a total 2,056 votes in Jasper County. Bobby Schilling followed with 661 votes. Rick Phillips, Steven Everly and Tim Borchardt received 177, 173 and 157 votes, respectively.
Loebsack was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006 and had planned to serve no more than 12 years, Newton Daily News previously reported. But then, he said, “things changed” and he decided he “didn’t like the direction the country was going” under the leadership of President Donald Trump.
This prompted the congressman to run for re-election one last time in 2018.
State Sens. Amy Sinclair and Jon Thorup, of District 14 and District 28, did not have competing candidates from their own party and, thus, secured their nominations; as did Iowa House District 29 Rep. Wes Breckenridge and competing Republican candidate Jon Dunwell.
Jasper County Supervisor Doug Cupples, Jasper County Sheriff John Halferty and Jasper County Auditor Dennis Parrott also secured their nominations unopposed.
U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst secured her nomination, too. Five Democratic candidates have competed for the nomination to take on Ernst. Jasper County voters went with Theresa Greenfield, who garnered 1,391 votes (less than 45 percent) out of a total 3,092 votes.
Following Greenfield was Michael Franken with 970 votes. Eddie Mauro, Kimberly Graham and Cal Woods ended up with 388, 288 and 48 votes in Jasper County, according to results listed on the auditor’s office website.
As of April 16, 2020, a majority of registered Jasper County voters — about 9,828 people — do not belong to a party, according to the data collected on the county elections website. There are about 8,345 registered Democrats, about 7,804 registered Republicans and 122 voters registered to another party in the county.
Jasper County has more than 26,000 registered voters. In Iowa, only voters registered to a political party may vote in a primary election. Independents, however, must declare a political party to vote.
To learn more about the elections, visit www.jaspercountyelections.iowa.gov.
Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com