With less than a week before Election Day, signs are growing that Democrats will retain Iowa’s open 2nd District — one of the handful of U.S. House districts where President Donald Trump emerged triumphant in 2016 but which sent a Democrat to Congress (Dave Loebsack, who is retiring after 14 years).
The Monmouth University poll completed last week shows liberal former Democrat state Sen. Rita Hart with a 49% to 43% lead districtwide over Republican state Sen. Mariannette Miller-Meeks.
Hart, a strong pro-choice backer and supporter of national health insurance, was the losing Democrat nominee for lieutenant governor in 2018.
The conservative Miller-Meeks, a physician and past president of the state medical society, has made three strong-but-losing races against Loebsack in the last decade.
In recent weeks, Miller-Meeks has gotten considerable publicity for her defense of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus crisis.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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