Michael Bridgford, a Quad Cities area native, is mounting an independent bid to serve Iowa’s 1st District in Congress.
Bridgford, a 41-year-old self-employed independent financial adviser, is looking to oust Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks from her seat representing southeastern Iowa and take on the partisan political system.
In an interview with the Des Moines Register, he vowed to work to restore practical governance as he enters one of the nation’s top battleground contests in the 2026 midterm elections as he launched his campaign Thursday, April 16.
“I’m running to represent the exhausted majority of Iowans that are tired of these divisive politics that are killing our country, of gridlocked Washington,” Bridgford said.
Bridgford was raised on a family farm outside the Quad Cities in Joy, Illinois. He attended public schools and earned his MBA from Northwestern University. He and his wife, Amelia, live in rural Bettendorf, where they are raising their two daughters.
Bridgford wants to ‘bridge the partisan divide’ by tapping into independent voter bloc
Bridgford sees a unique shot to appeal to middle-of-the-road voters who aren’t registered with any political party amid a likely three-time rematch between the same partisan candidates.
“No party” voter registrations make up a substantial voter bloc in the 1st District. There are 160,415 active registered “no party” voters and 3,707 voters registered as “other” in the district, according to April data from the Iowa Secretary of State.
Republicans have 163,616 active registered voters, an advantage over Democrats’ 136,823 registered voters.
Bridgford pitched himself as a candidate who could bypass party interests, broker compromise and provide a potential swing vote needed to take action on contentious issues that have gridlocked Washington.
“It’s time to break this partisan divide, try to bridge the partisan divide and actually get things done,” Bridgford said. “And the only way we’re going to do this if we have folks in Washington willing to work with both sides.”
But he would have to contend with the major cash advantage that the Democratic and Republican frontrunners have amassed already this election cycle and who also have high name recognition from running for public office multiple times.
Democrat Christina Bohannan raised $2.09 million in the first quarter of 2026 ending March 31, new campaign filings show, leaving her with about $4 million stockpiled heading into the midterms. Miller-Meeks tallied $1.49 million raised in the first quarter, giving her more than $4.3 million in her campaign coffers.
Bridgford said that was a “top-down game” that loses value as voters are flooded with attack ads.
“They’re selling people something that people don’t want. I would equate it to they have these fire hoses of toxic slop that they’re just forcing on people just pounding them into the ground, pounding them into submission to vote for one,” he said.
His campaign, by comparison, plans to “offer people a glass of water, hopefully something that they want — something refreshing, something different,” Bridgford said.
What are his key issues?
Bridgford is taking up an anti-corruption platform that calls for term limits, age maximums and a ban on congressional stock trading.
And he wants to lower costs, push agricultural policies that protect landowners and promote trade, end “culture wars” and revitalize rural health care by providing a baseline of affordable care while preserving the options available in the private market.
Health care has been a key issue shaping 2026 campaigns on the heels of President Donald Trump signing Republicans’ tax and spending law dubbed the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” into law last July. The law makes permanent Trump’s signature 2017 tax cuts and trims nearly $1 trillion in federal Medicaid spending over a decade, especially straining rural hospitals that operate on slim margins.
Asked if he supports reversing those cuts, he didn’t directly answer but said that’s an issue where there should be more compromise.
“The answer is somewhere in the middle. It’s not one extreme or the other,” Bridgford said. “And it’s a matter of having people open to dialogue, to getting to a solution.”
While the U.S. is in a ceasefire in the Iran war, Bridgford said he would be “wary” of voting to deploy troops and hoped for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict. But he declined to commit to how he would vote on a resolution limiting the president’s war powers as a private citizen who is not privy to confidential information Congress receives.
“I hope that there’s no more active engagement,” Bridgford said. “And if there is going to be more, I think that Congress does need to step up to the plate and have a say, especially before any boots would be on the ground.”
Bridgford to embark on district-wide tour
Bridgford joins one of the most competitive congressional races in the nation, considered a “toss-up” by elections observers as both parties wrestle for control of Congress.
Iowa’s 1st District spans 20 counties, including the cities of Iowa City, Davenport, Indianola and Keokuk.
Miller-Meeks survived a recount to win reelection in 2024, defeating Bohannan by less than 800 votes in 2024.
Bohannan, a University of Iowa law professor from Iowa City, is trying a third time to unseat Miller-Meeks. Both face challenges in the June 2 primaries.
Democrat Travis Terrell, a UI Health Care worker from Tiffin, faces Bohannan. And Davenport Republican David Pautsch, a businessman and founder of the Quad Cities Prayer Breakfast, is trying a second time to challenge Miller-Meeks after a failed 2024 primary bid.
Bridgford will travel to all 20 counties in the 1st District starting in May to hear from voters and to gather signatures to get on the November ballot.
In Iowa, U.S. House candidates must get 1,726 signatures plus 47 from half the district’s counties by the June 2 filing deadline to qualify.
Marissa Payne covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. Reach her by email at mjpayne@registermedia.com. Follow her on X at @marissajpayne.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Independent challenge adds uncertainty to Iowa’s 1st District midterm
Reporting by Marissa Payne, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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