Today, GOP congressional candidate State Sen. Mariannette Miller-Meeks launched a website attaching her primary opponent Former Congressman Bobby Shilling.
“After months of attacks and mistruths coming from Bobby Schilling, we thought the best way to share the truth about him was to let him do it in his own words,” said Miller-Meeks campaign manager Austin Harris. “Bobby Schilling has a long history of saying how he was a life-long Illinois resident who would never leave the state only to claim now that he’s really an Iowan. He called for an independent investigation of President Trump when he was in a Democratic district in Illinois and, today, he purports to be the most conservative candidate in the race. His hypocrisy knows no state boundaries.”
When reached for comment on the site and the video Candidate Bobby Schilling had this to say, “I’m not surprised to see cheap shots from a candidate who has come up short in every general election for IA-2. California native Miller-Meeks should stick to telling Republican voters how she plans to win in the general election — since obviously she’s never won a Democrat district. When you lose a general election 3 times, voters are telling you something — they just don’t like you.”
Shilling and Miller-Meeks are vying for the GOP nomination to take on likely challenger Democrat Rita Hart. Hart was a member of the Iowa Senate until 2019. She ran for Lieutenant Governor in 2018. The current occupant of the seat is Congressman Democrat Dave Loebsack. Loebsack announced in 2019 that he would not seek reelection in 2020. The second Congressional district is made up of twenty-four counties and covers most of southeastern Iowa. It has earned “Toss-up” status by the Cook Political Report and Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball. The district is unique in that it is the only open, and Democratically held seat in the nation that President Donald Trump Won in 2016.
Miller-Meeks was elected to the Iowa Senate in 2018. She is running in the primary against former Republican Congressman of Illinois, Bobby Schilling. Schilling won a seat in congress in the 17th congressional district race in 2010. He ran for reelection in 2012 but lost. He ran unsuccessfully again in 2014. The primary for the Iowa Second District will be on June 2, 2020.
