Iowa Democrat Rita Hart has dropped her election challenge to Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks’s 2020 victory in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District.
Hart on March 31 withdrew her challenge to her state-certified, six-vote loss with the House Administration Committee. A number of Democratic lawmakers in recent days said House leaders shouldn’t attempt to overturn the election results.
“After many conversations with people I trust about the future of this contest, I have made the decision to withdraw my contest before the House Committee on Administration,” Hart said in a statement. “Since Election Day, and throughout this entire process, my mission has been about ensuring the voices of Iowans who followed the law are not silenced. I am saddened that some Iowans’ votes will not count through no fault of their own. The work of ensuring it does not happen again will continue beyond this campaign.”
The decision by Hart comes as House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Miller-Meeks stopped in Iowa to criticize House Democratic efforts.
“The idea that Democrats want to turn over an election after it’s been counted, recounted, and a bipartisan election board had voted,” McCarthy said March 31. “It’s time to move on. I’ve served with the Congresswoman, we’ve been to the border already to see the crisis.”
