Iowa House seat flipped by Republican in jeopardy?

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Iowa Army veteran expected to win congressional race by 6 votes

Congresswoman-elect Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, discusses her race on ‘Fox & Friends.’

The fourth time may not be the charm after all for Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks.

The eye doctor and Army veteran who was certified the winner of Iowa's 2nd Congressional District after four times running for the job faces one more hurdle to secure the seat: The Democratic-led Congress. 

Her Democratic opponent Rita Hart will file an election contest to the U.S. House asking for Congress to ultimately seat her instead. 

"The Notice of Contest will contain detailed allegations that, if proven true, would entitle Rita to the office," Zach Meunier, Hart's campaign manager, said in explaining the forthcoming appeal. 

GOP IOWA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE MILLER-MEEKS EXPECTED TO WIN BY 6 VOTES AFTER RECOUNT

Hart and Miller-Meeks were in the closest race in the country. The final Iowa tally had Miller-Meeks winning by just six votes and flipping a 13th blue seat for Republicans.

Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa

But Hart's campaign says at least 30 military and overseas ballots were excluded from the official tally and thousands of other ballots were never examined for voter intent during the recount. These ballots are "more than sufficient to change the outcome of the election," Meunier said. 

Republicans are crying foul that Democrats are trying to use Washington politics to undo Iowa's official results.

"It's a political process dressed up in legalese," said Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., the top Republican on the House Administration Committee that would handle the election investigation.

Republicans have cause for concern that Miller-Meeks' win could be undone since the House has the final say in contested House elections.

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House Democrats in 1985 seated Indiana Democratic incumbent Frank McCloskey in a bitterly divided vote even though his Republican challenger had won the race by 418 votes in the state-certified election results. McCloskey contested the election result with the Democratic-controlled House. A four-month-long congressional investigation and recount determined that McCloskey won the election by four votes.

Republicans have accused Hart of bypassing the Iowa courts in favor of more friendly political turf in Speaker Nancy Pelosi's House of Representatives. 

"Rita Hart has chosen a political process controlled by Nancy Pelosi over a legal process controlled by Iowa judges," Miller-Meeks campaign lawyer Alan Ostergren said of the decision. "All Iowans should be outraged by this decision."

Davis urged Democrats to reject any effort to undo Miller-Meeks certified win, suggesting it could backfire on them when Republicans are well-positioned to retake the House in 2022.

"They need to think long and hard about casting a vote to overturn the will of the voters in a certain state, in a certain congressional district because it could happen to them in just a couple of years," Davis told Fox News.

Hart, a former teacher and state senator, has until Dec. 30 to file her detailed allegations with the House under the 1969 Federal Contested Elections Act. Miller-Meeks will have 30 days to respond.

The House Administration Committee has a range of options, from recommending the dismissal of Hart's contest to recommending the seat declared vacant and a new election be held.

In the 1985 Indiana case, the committee formed a three-person task force to investigate the election. They secured all the ballots, set rules to count them and launched a recount with the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office. A divided House then voted 236-190 to award the seat to the Democrat who initially lost.

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The chairwoman of the House Administration Committee, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., hasn't commented on how the House will handle Hart's petition since nothing has been filed yet.

UNITED STATES - AUGUST 13: Former Iowa State Senator Rita Hart speaks with a reporter at her home in Wheatland, Iowa on Tuesday August 13, 2019. (Photo by Caroline Brehman/CQ Roll Call)

Riley Kilburg, a spokesperson for Hart, said the Iowa court process wasn't the proper remedy to ensure all votes were counted.

"This isn't about party politics, it’s about ensuring that the voices of Iowans were heard," Kilburg told Fox News. "The Federal Contested Elections Act was passed and signed into law specifically to handle elections where there are concerns about the process and a careful examination is needed. These next steps will allow the time necessary to ensure that all Iowans have their voices heard. That simply wouldn’t have been possible in the Iowa court process."

Both Hart and Miller-Meeks were in Washington for congressional orientation last month as their race was pending. But on Nov. 30, Iowa election officials certified Miller-Meeks as the winner by six votes. The count was 196,964 to 196,958.

So Miller-Meeks got to finalize the orientation process by picking out a congressional office in Washington and hiring transition staff, according to an aide. She is making preparations to be sworn in with the rest of Congress on Jan. 3 and to get work for her Iowa constituents. 

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After her six-vote victory, Miller-Meeks talked of the grit and tenacity it took to keep going despite losing the congressional race previously in 2008, 2010 and 2014. 

"If nothing else I hope my story inspires people to be willing to take a risk and to trust in their own talents and to not let failure define who they are and what they become," Miller-Meeks said.