Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks has begun running television ads touting her role as “the doctor in the House” ahead of what is expected to be a competitive reelection effort this fall.
“For 40 years, I have had one job,” Miller-Meeks says in the ad. “It’s health care. I enlisted in the Army, became a nurse and then a doctor. In my practice, I took care of patients from all walks of life. Now, I fight for Iowans in Congress.”
Miller-Meeks has worked as an ophthalmologist, and she previously served as director of the Iowa Department of Public Health.
In the ad, she speaks over images of herself in a white physician’s coat. Snippets of news headlines flash across the screen describing Miller-Meeks’ work to change the way pharmacy benefits managers operate.
“I fight against big insurance companies that are ripping us off,” she says in the narration. “They made prices too high. I’m Mariannette Miller-Meeks. I approve this message, because nobody should go broke just because they get sick.”
Democrats have targeted Miller-Meeks over her approach to health care, criticizing her for her vote in favor of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which reduced federal funding for Medicaid and SNAP benefits. Republicans argued it was necessary to curtail fraud and abuse.
Miller-Meeks has also sponsored legislation that passed the House that Republicans said would make health care more affordable. But Democrats criticized the bill because it did not include provisions extending enhanced tax subsidies so Americans could purchase lower-cost insurance policies through the Affordable Care Act exchanges.
Miller-Meeks has called those subsidies a “bailout” for insurance companies and said extending them would only gloss over the root cause of rising health care costs.
The ad launch comes about a month before the June 2 primary elections. Miller-Meeks, who is seeking a fourth term representing Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, is facing a challenger in Republican David Pautsch, a businessman and founder of the Quad Cities Prayer Breakfast.
But in a news release, Miller-Meeks’ campaign calls the ad its “first general election television ad.”
“The early launch is a show of strength from a campaign that has earned support from Republicans, Democrats, and Independents across IA-01 who are tired of a healthcare system that works for insurance companies and against everyone else,” the release said.
Nonpartisan elections analysts at the Cook Political Report rate the race as a “toss-up” that either party could win in November.
Two Democrats, Christina Bohannan and Travis Terrell, are running in the 1st District Democratic primary.
Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Des Moines Register. She writes about campaigns, elections and the Iowa Caucuses. Reach her at bpfann@dmreg.com or 515-284-8244. Follow her on X at @brianneDMR.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Miller-Meeks launches TV ads in ‘toss-up’ 1st Congressional District
Reporting by Brianne Pfannenstiel, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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