A Democrat-led investigation may flip a Republican House seat to the Democrats.
The House Administration Committee is set to review the election results of Iowa’s 2nd Congressional district, where Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks beat her Democrat opponent Rita Hart in November.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made headlines this week when she said the investigation could actually unseat the elected Republican and replace her with a Democrat.
Miller-Meeks won the race by only 6 votes. Hart has challenged the results of the election, filing a petition in December which will now be reviewed by the House committee.
Republicans have pushed back, saying there has already been a recount and that the bipartisan State Canvassing Board certified Miller-Meeks as the winner.
“In Iowa, the votes were counted, recounted, and in some cases – recounted again,” Miller-Meeks said on Twitter. “Now, Rita Hart is asking democrat politicians in DC to elect her because the voters of Iowa did not. Help us stop this attack on Iowa’s free and fair elections!”
Hart claims election officials did not count every vote.
“At least 22 Iowans’ legally-cast ballots still have not been counted in IA-02,” Hart said on Facebook. “We are glad to see the Cmte. on Administration taking the next step towards ensuring that every legally-cast vote is counted in this race and that all Iowans’ voices are heard.”
Pelosi said at a press conference Thursday she could see a scenario where the incumbent Republican was ousted.
“I respect the work of the committee,” she told reporters. “We’ll see where that takes us. There could be a scenario to that extent.”
The National Republican Congressional Committee has pushed back against Hart’s claims, calling it a “naked power grab.”
“Congresswoman-elect Mariannette Miller-Meeks was unanimously certified as the winner of the election,” NRCC Spokesman Bob Salera said after the petition was filed in December. “Rita Hart’s decision to bypass the Iowa courts and ask Nancy Pelosi to use a partisan political process to throw out the results of this election is nothing but a naked power grab.”
The Des Moines Register has also been tough on Hart, saying in an editorial that she should have appealed to the Iowa court system instead of the Democrat House.
“But going through that process would have demonstrated a commitment to having neutral Iowa arbiters resolve vote-counting problems instead of out-of-state partisans,” the paper wrote. “Rita Hart’s appeal to Congress doesn’t have a happy ending, especially after she passed over Iowa judges. She should concede.”
