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Failed Democratic congressional candidate Rita Hart is pushing onward with a challenge to her lost election last fall to freshman Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks who was sat in the lower chamber in January. Miller-Meeks was certified the winner by state election officials by six votes.
Hart, however, bypassed state avenues for challenging elections and instead appealed her case directly to the House of Representatives, which may determine its own membership. House Democrats on the Administration Committee greenlit a probe into the Iowa contest Wednesday.
On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who chose in December to seat Miller-Meeks despite the ongoing challenge launched by Hart, threatened there’s still a chance the House would overturn the Iowa result to add one more Democrat to a razor-thin majority. Pelosi currently presides over the slimmest majority of her congressional career with a nine-vote advantage over House Republicans.
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The House Administration Committee tabled a motion to dismiss a petition contesting the election results of Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District Wednesday, setting up the committee to review the closest race in the 2020 general election.
Democrat Rita Hart lost to incumbent Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks by six votes out of more than 400,000 ballots cast a less than 1% margin of victory prompting Hart to petition the election results with Congress in late December.
Miller-Meeks then filed a motion to dismiss the petition, claiming Hart failed to exhaust state judicial procedures before filing her notice of contest with the House.
House Committee Votes Against Rep. Miller-Meeks’ Motion to Dismiss Opponent’s Election Contest
A House of Representatives committee on March 10 rejected for now a motion from Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) that asked for the dismissal of an election contest.
Rita Hart, who battled with Miller-Meeks for the opportunity to represent Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, alleges she won the 2020 election even though Miller-Meeks was certified the winner by six votes and was sworn in on Jan. 4.
Hart petitioned the House to include 22 uncounted votes, which would see Miller-Meeks defeated. In response, Miller-Meeks asked the House Administration Committee to dismiss the request.