Morning Digest: Iowa Democrat hopes third time's the charm after ultra-close loss in 2024
A GOP congresswoman's history of narrow escapes puts a Trump district in play
Leading Off
IA-01
Former state Rep. Christina Bohannan announced Tuesday that she would once again seek to unseat Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, the Iowa Republican who defeated Bohannan in one of last year's tightest House races.
Bohannan, who is the first prominent Democrat to launch a campaign for the 1st District, is waging her third campaign for this constituency in the southeastern part of the state.
In 2022, Bohannan first challenged Miller-Meeks and lost 53-47, a respectable showing during what was a tough election cycle for Hawkeye State Democrats.
When Bohannan sought a rematch two years later, she got some encouraging news during the Republican primary, during which Miller-Meeks turned back an underfunded Christian activist named David Pautsch with a soft 56-44 win.
The congresswoman's poor showing gave Bohannan reason to hope that enough conservative voters would refuse to vote for Miller-Meeks in the general election, but Donald Trump's strength in the state posed a daunting obstacle for the challenger. Trump, according to calculations from the Downballot, ultimately carried the 1st District 54-45, which was considerably wider than his 51-48 showing in 2020.
Nonetheless, Miller-Meeks ended up dramatically underperforming the top of the ticket—just not by quite enough for Bohannan to win. The congresswoman secured her third term 50.0 to 49.8 after an expensive race, though it took a recount to confirm that her 799-vote margin was the smallest of any House Republican.
(The GOP-led legislature passed a bill months later to only allow recounts in races where the margin is 0.15 points or less. Miller-Meeks' edge was just 0.19 points.)
Bohannan launched her new effort by tying Miller-Meeks to the Trump administration's unpopular agenda, which was not a line of attack she had available during her first two campaigns.
"Mariannette Miller-Meeks has had three terms in Congress—three chances to do right by the people of Iowa," the Democrat said in her announcement. "From cutting Medicaid, to siding with DOGE's devastating cuts to Social Security, to enabling unelected, unaccountable billionaires like Elon Musk—Miller-Meeks has forgotten about us. It's time someone put Iowa first."
Bohannan, who immediately received an endorsement from EMILYs List, joins two lesser-known Democrats in the primary. The field also includes healthcare worker Travis Terrell and perennial candidate Bob Krause, who served in the state House in the 1970s.
Miller-Meeks herself faces a primary rematch with Pautsch, who blasted her as a "Trump hater" as he launched his second campaign in February. But despite Miller-Meeks' weak performances both in her most recent primary and in past general elections—after three failed House campaigns, she finally earned a six-vote victory in 2020—she still believes she's the perfect candidate to keep the 1st District red.
"I see some comments from liberals hoping I am not running for re-election," the congresswoman tweeted Tuesday. "They should hope for something else."
Election Recaps
GA Public Service Commission (D & R)
Former Atlanta City Council member Keisha Sean Waites and clean energy nonprofit head Peter Hubbard will face off in the July 15 Democratic primary runoff for the right to face Republican Public Service Commissioner Fitz Johnson.
Waites took 46% in the statewide contest, which was just below the majority she needed to win outright, while Hubbard beat out technology consultant Robert Jones 33-21 for second place. The winner will oppose Johnson in the November special election for a spot on the Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities.
Republican Commissioner Tim Echols, meanwhile, easily won renomination 76-24 against businessman Lee Muns. Echols will go up against Alicia Johnson, a healthcare administrator who had no Democratic primary opposition, in a second special election for the five-member board. Republicans currently hold all five seats.
VA-AG (D)
Former Del. Jay Jones edged out Henrico County Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Taylor 51-49 in the Democratic primary for attorney general of Virginia. Jones will face Republican incumbent Jason Miyares, who is up for a second term.
VA-LG (D)
State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi declared victory Tuesday evening in the tight Democratic primary for lieutenant governor of Virginia, though the Associated Press has not called the race.
Hashmi, with an estimated 96% of the vote counted, holds a 27.4 to 26.6 lead over former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, with state Sen. Aaron Rouse just behind with 26.3%. Stoney said Tuesday evening that he would not concede until all the votes are tabulated, though the state Democratic Party, Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association, and Rouse didn’t wait to congratulate Hashmi.
The Democratic nominee will face conservative radio host John Reid, who effectively secured the GOP nomination in April after his only opponent dropped out. Gov. Glenn Youngkin pressured Reid to end his campaign, but he refused to quit the race.
Senate
LA-Sen
State Sen. Blake Miguez announced Tuesday that he would challenge Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who voted to convict Donald Trump after the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, in next year's Republican primary.
Miguez, a competitive marksman who enjoyed a 2010 stint on the reality TV show "Top Shot," showcased his skills in an announcement video in which he tells the audience, "Phony politicians like Bill Cassidy can't shoot straight. But I can." Miguez is shown choosing between targets bearing labels like "Marxism," "food dyes," and "trans crap," several of which he dramatically destroys.
Miguez, who also declares in the video that he's running "because Bill Cassidy sucks," is the second prominent Republican to challenge the senator, who has been doing everything he can to return to Trump's good graces.
State Treasurer John Fleming launched a bid in December, and like Miguez, he's accused Cassidy of betraying the GOP's supreme leader. But while Fleming self-funded $2 million through the end of March, he raised little from donors. New reports are due July 15, which will tell us whether Fleming has expanded his financial base. Other Republicans are also considering joining the race.
Because the state requires primary candidates to win a majority of the vote to avert a runoff, a packed field may not work out to Cassidy's benefit. The senator is fully aware of this complication: The Advocate reported earlier this month that he spoke to state legislators about changing the law to allow candidates to win with just a plurality. Lawmakers, however, ended their most recent session without taking action.
OH-Sen
Democratic state Sen. Casey Weinstein informs Cleveland.com that he's interested in challenging Republican Sen. Jon Husted, but only if former Sen. Sherrod Brown doesn't run. Weinstein is the first prominent Democrat besides Brown to say he's thinking of running against Husted, whom Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine appointed to replace JD Vance in the Senate.
Governors
MI-Gov
Former state House Speaker Tom Leonard said Tuesday that he was joining the Republican primary for Michigan's open governorship.
Leonard was one of the most powerful politicians in the state when his colleagues picked him to lead the lower chamber in 2017, but little has gone well for him politically since then.
The speaker was the GOP nominee for attorney general the next year, and though he ran well ahead of the rest of the statewide ticket, he still lost to Democrat Dana Nessel 49-46. Donald Trump then nominated him to serve as U.S. attorney for western Michigan, but the state's Democratic senators successfully blocked him.
In 2022, though, it was Trump himself who helped thwart Leonard's latest comeback when he sought a rematch against Nessel.
Michigan law requires party delegates, rather than primary voters, to choose the nominees for attorney general. Convention-goers heeded Trump's call to pick election conspiracy theorist Matthew DePerno over Leonard, leaving the former speaker to watch from the sidelines as Nessel decisively won a second term.
Leonard's decision to enter the race to succeed Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who is prohibited from seeking a third term, means he'll be competing in a traditional primary, but he's still in for a tough contest. Rep. John James is the frontrunner in a race that also includes state Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt and former Attorney General Mike Cox.
NY-Gov
Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul leads Republican Rep. Mike Lawler 48-41 and Rep. Elise Stefanik 50-39 in hypothetical matchups, according to an early May poll conducted by the GOP firm Harper Polling.
Though the survey was conducted more than a month ago, it was only published this week by the New York Post, which reported that Harper polled on behalf of an unnamed conservative group.
There's no word on the rooting interest of the firm's client, but Stefanik does not believe it comes from a friendly source. The congresswoman's team dismissed the survey's findings, which showed Lawler performing better than her in upstate New York, as "laughable," though she did not present alternative numbers.
SC-Gov
Attorney General Alan Wilson will announce Monday that he'd enter the Republican primary for governor of South Carolina, the Associated Press reports. A spokesperson for Wilson responded by telling the Post and Courier, "We're not confirming anything or denying anything."
Wilson would be the first major candidate to enter the race to replace Gov. Henry McMaster, a fellow Republican who is termed out of office, but the primary has already turned into a bitter contest.
Rep. Nancy Mace, who is one of several Republicans eyeing the race, accused Wilson in February of failing to prosecute four men she accused of rape, an allegation the attorney general denounced as "categorically false." Mace, who has spent the ensuing months attacking Wilson as weak on crime, said over the weekend, "We'll make a decision, I hope pretty soon."
House
IL-07
Democratic Rep. Danny Davis told the Austin Weekly News on Friday he'd decide whether to seek a 16th term "probably in the next few weeks." But while the 83-year-old incumbent sounded all but certain to run again earlier this year, he now sounds far less sure about his plans.
"I'm no spring chicken," Davis admitted to reporter Bill Dwyer. "Most people my age retired years ago." Still, the congressman pointed to his long tenure, including his position on the influential House Ways and Means Committee, when he said, "I'm a senior member of Congress, not just a member."
A horde of Chicago Democrats would consider running for the safely blue 7th District if Davis steps aside, and state Rep. LaShawn Ford even created a campaign committee last month to prepare for such a scenario. Ford, however, informed Dwyer that he would only run if Davis didn't.
Businessman Jason Friedman, by contrast, announced his own campaign in April and has said he would not defer to Davis.
KY-06
Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman endorsed former state Rep. Cherlynn Stevenson on Tuesday in the Democratic primary for Kentucky's 6th District, a move that ends lingering talk that Coleman could run herself. While the lieutenant governor said she wasn't interested in February, the Cook Political Report wrote in May that Gov. Andy Beshear was trying to change her mind.
NJ-07, NJ-11
Former Rep. Tom Malinowski tells the New Jersey Globe he would "of course" consider running in a special election to succeed Rep. Mikie Sherrill in the 11th District, which almost certainly means he won't try to reclaim his old 7th District from Republican Rep. Tom Kean.
But as Malinowski, who chairs the Hunterdon County Democrats, also noted, there will only be a special election if Sherrill defeats Republican Jack Ciattarelli in the November general election for governor. The former congressman indicated that he would worry about a potential race for the 11th later, saying that Democrats need to "focus on electing Mikie first."
NY-17
Former National Security Council official Cait Conley has earned an endorsement from VoteVets, an influential group that backs Democrats with backgrounds in national security, in the busy primary to flip New York's 17th District. Conley is one of several Democrats campaigning to take on Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican who is still keeping everyone guessing whether he'll run for reelection or seek the governor's office.
Ballot Measures
ID Ballot
The Idaho Supreme Court on Monday unanimously ordered Republican Attorney General Raul Labrador to revise the ballot summary he crafted for a proposed initiative to overturn the state's near-total abortion ban.
The justices agreed with the plaintiffs that the text drafted by Labrador, as well as a fiscal impact statement from a state agency, failed to properly reflect what the initiative would do.
The court determined that Labrador's summary did not note that the proposal would include liability protections for healthcare providers who perform abortions, or that there would be an "expanded right to an abortion after fetal viability to protect the health of the mother."
The ruling, though, wasn't a complete win for the abortion rights campaign, known as Idahoans United for Women and Families. While the group's suit faulted Labrador's summary for referring to "fetus viability" instead of the more commonly used term "fetal viability," the justices did not object to the term.
The justices ordered officials to produce new ballot summaries and fiscal impact statements by June 23. Idahoans United has until April of next year to collect almost 71,000 signatures, a figure that represents 6% of the state's registered voters. Organizers would also need to hit geographic targets in 18 of the state's 35 legislative districts.
Mayors & County Leaders
New York, NY Mayor
Federal agents arrested and physically restrained New York City Comptroller Brad Lander on Tuesday after he appeared at an immigration court and linked arms with a man the authorities were trying to detain. Lander, who is competing in next week's Democratic primary for mayor, was released hours later.
The Trump administration accused the comptroller of "assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer," allegations Lander denied. He told reporters, "I'm grateful to hear that the charges are not being brought, but if they are, I've got a lawyer. I don't have to worry about my due process rights."
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who denounced Lander's arrest as "bullshit," added, "To my knowledge, there are no charges." Lander's opponents, including former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, also condemned the Trump administration's actions against him.
Lander's arrest has the chance to shake up the race, though the primary is now just a week away, and early voting began last weekend. Two new surveys show just how much ground Lander has to make up as Cuomo and his allies continue to dominate the airwaves.
An anti-Cuomo coalition known as DREAM released a survey from the Center for Strategic Politics that shows Cuomo leading with 37% in the first round of tabulations, with Mamdani outpacing Lander 29-9 for second place. The conservative Manhattan Institute likewise finds Cuomo and Mamdani taking 43% and 30%, respectively: City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams is a distant third with 7%, while Lander is at 6%.
The two surveys also agree that Cuomo retains his lead after simulating the ranked-choice process, but there's no consensus on just how strong his advantage is. DREAM finds Cuomo edging out Mamdani just 52-48, while the Manhattan Institute puts the ex-governor's lead at 56-44.
Grab Bag
Where Are They Now?
In federal prison. Former New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez began his 11-year sentence Tuesday, a fate he's tried to avoid by reportedly seeking a pardon from Donald Trump.
Menendez, a Democrat and former Trump critic who was convicted on corruption charges in July, has waged a public and private campaign to stay out of prison, a punishment the 71-year-old said would be a "life and death sentence." NBC reported earlier this month that Menendez contacted Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner about a grant of clemency only to be "rebuffed."
Ex-Senator Bob Menendez has made vile statements with wild accusations against President Biden and fellow Democrats – all designed to kiss Trump’s ass in a sufficiently subservient manner to win Trump’s mercy and a pardon.
It’s pathetic to see him treating Trump’s sphincter as though it were the ring.
Let the disgraced – and disgraceful – former senator rot and serve his full sentence!
Texas Polling:
GOP Senate - Paxton 49% - Cornyn 33%
Senate Election - Generic Democrat 42% - Paxton 39%
Senate Election - Cornyn 42% - Generic Democrat 35%
Stratus Intelligence / June 8, 2025