Greetings everyone. Excited to bring to you another one of our terrific candidates in a very strong position to flip a battleground House district blue, Christina Bohannan, who is running in IA-01. Of all the House districts we are trying to flip in 2026 the one we came closest to winning in 2024 is this one. Christina, with Hopium’s backing, came within 800 votes of winning in what was a very tough year in Iowa as Trump won statewide by 13 points. The top of the ticket is very different this year as both our gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand and our Senate candidate Josh Turek lead in current polling.
Incredibly Bohannan heads into the home stretch with more money in the bank than her Republican opponent Rep. Miller-Meeks. What is also different than 2024 is that Miller-Meeks has enthusiastically backed Trump’s agenda - tariffs/higher prices, war/higher prices, barbaric cuts to health care - and is so clearly, clearly on the record for doing things to hurt the people of Iowa, including the struggling farm economy. With two more rural clinics in the district set to close their doors this week rural healthcare continues to be a top issue as access in these more remote areas due to these health care cuts is becoming an enormous problem in Iowa.
Here is Christina talking about how much better things feel this cycle in her race and across the state:
It is remarkable. I’ll tell you, to be honest, I have never seen anything like it since I’ve been in politics in Iowa. We have terrific candidates — people who have done interesting things, but also who are authentic and who have built trust among Iowa voters that they’re not just going to be beholden to their party, but are really an independent voice for the people here in Iowa. And, the most recent poll has me ahead of my Republican opponent as well. My Republican opponent, Marionette Miller-Meeks, actually won this seat by the narrowest margin of any Republican now in the United States House of Representatives. And so this is a top opportunity. So, yes, up and down the ballot, we have incredibly competitive races, and the energy and the momentum that is building among Iowans of all parties is amazing.
You can support Christina by contributing to our original Winning the House campaign or by giving directly to her campaign. You can learn more about Christina by visiting her website, where you can also sign up to volunteer from wherever you are.
Here’s a bit more from Christina from our discussion:
I mean, look, Iowa is an agricultural state, and our economy is driven largely by agriculture. And we are seeing a lot of pain here, and it’s been building for years. First came the corporate consolidation in big ag that led to high prices in fertilizer, seed, farm equipment, you name it. So farmers were already paying very high prices for those things. Then came the tariffs, which jacked up the prices more. Then, as a result of the tariffs, came the trade war with China, which took away for a while — and has still severely diminished — our market with China, our trade relationship with China, which is the largest buyer by far of Iowa soybeans.
And then came the Iran war, which jacked up diesel prices and fertilizer prices even more. So it’s just been one hit after another on Iowa farmers and on our agriculture sector altogether. And you’re seeing ripple effects of that throughout the economy — when farmers aren’t buying farm equipment, now we see layoffs at John Deere. It’s just been a real hit for us.
And I think people are open to seeing that what my opponent's role, Marionette Miller-Meeks, has been — to just rubber-stamp every bad policy that's hurting Iowa's economy. People look at that, and it is so blatantly obvious [how] that is not in Iowans' interest. That she is just rubber-stamping what her party's telling her to do, or what big ag's telling her to do, or what the billionaire donors are telling her to do. And so it's just really obvious right now that these representatives are way out of touch with what everyday Iowans are going through.
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Simon Rosenberg:
Well, and the other thing we're starting to get data on is we're starting to really see the beginning of the impact of the gutting of health care in the U.S. I mean, we're seeing uninsured rates coming in much higher. We've also seen, because of the SNAP cuts, that people are losing their SNAP benefits faster than even the CBO anticipated. And so the other backdrop to this fall is going to be a greater awareness of the rising cost of health care, the lack of access because of the cuts and the withdrawal of money. How is that playing out? How are you seeing that in your race?Christina Bohannan:
It's huge, and it's devastating. One thing that's been so remarkable lately is the number of rural hospital and other hospital CEOs who are writing letters to the editor, who are speaking out — I've done interviews with the press about how devastating these Medicaid cuts and ACA cuts are for them. And there have been multiple articles here about closures all around the district — multiple clinics, a hospital in Ottumwa, where my opponent lives, by the way — that's affecting people in the district. It's stark, because we've got a hundred thousand Iowans who have lost Medicaid. We have tens of thousands more who are on the ACA. There was an article in the Des Moines Register just a couple of days ago that said about 20 percent of those in Iowa have dropped their ACA coverage because of those high costs, which means they just don't have coverage.
And then, what happens when people don’t have coverage? They go to the emergency rooms instead. There was an article just this morning about that — that hospitals are seeing large numbers of people coming to the emergency rooms. What that means is the hospitals are going to have to absorb those costs, which means they’re going to have to cut services.
Enjoy this interview with one of our very best pick up opportunities this cycle with one our very best candidates, Christina Bohannan. Please share it with others you think might be interested, hit “like” so more will see it, and keep working hard all. We have a country to save, and elections like this one in IA-01 to win, together! - Simon
Bio - Christina Bohannan, Democratic Nominee In Iowa’s 1st Congressional District
Christina Bohannan is a mom, law professor, and former engineer. She is running for Congress because she believes we need less partisan infighting and more common sense solutions in Washington — for a government that works for the people. Christina will fight every day for Iowa families, kids, and small businesses because she believes if you work hard, you deserve a fair shot to get ahead.
The youngest of her parents’ three children, Christina grew up living in a trailer in a rural small town. Her parents never finished high school, and her mom worked at a daycare while her dad struggled to make ends meet as a construction worker. When Christina was in high school, her dad got sick with emphysema, and his health insurance was cancelled, forcing her family to choose between paying for his medicine and paying for everything else. In Congress, Christina will take on big Pharma to lower the cost of prescription drugs.
Thanks to the support and guidance of strong public school teachers, student loans, scholarships, and Christina’s hard work, she became the first in her family to graduate college. She worked her way through engineering school and then law school by picking oranges, cleaning trailers, and working as an engineer. Christina graduated first in her law school class and was Editor-in-Chief of the law review, and after graduation went on to clerk for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
More than two decades ago, Christina was given a life changing opportunity to move to Iowa and become a law professor at the University of Iowa. She is proud to have raised her daughter here on the Iowa values of decency, fairness, and hard work. Christina’s daughter recently graduated from college and just finished her first year in law school. In their community, Christina and her family have been involved in several organizations, including groups that advocate for women and girls, support hard-working and low-income families, and serve underprivileged areas.
At the University of Iowa law school, Christina teaches and writes in several areas of law, including teaching Constitutional Law, Torts, and Intellectual Property. She’s spent her career working on business innovation, capitalism, and economic growth, and teaching our young people about the importance of democracy in a country founded on the promise of freedom and equality–a background more important than ever, given current threats to our institutions.
In 2020, Christina stood up to run for office, taking on politics as usual and defeating a 20-year incumbent to represent District 85 in the Iowa House. During her time in the Statehouse, Christina listened to her community to protect working families, look out for seniors, push for more investment in our public schools, and help Iowa families and small businesses recover from the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19. She’s worked with both parties to pass legislation to crack down on human trafficking and to address the often overlooked problem of elder abuse.
Now, Christina is running for Congress because she believes we need a government that works for the people, not Washington special interests. Too many Iowa families are struggling, worrying they’re just one bad break from not making ends meet, like her family was when her dad got sick. In Congress, Christina will take on greedy corporations responsible for price gouging and rising prices. She will also work to protect Medicaid and social security, lower costs for Iowans, and advocate for a middle class tax cut. She’ll protect veterans from unnecessary DOGE cuts, and call for more technical and vocational training for high-skill, high-wage jobs in Iowa, greater investment in our kids and schools, and better access to broadband all across Iowa.
Outside of serving her community, Christina enjoys running, hiking, bike riding, and spending time with her daughter and husband.
