One of the susceptible Home Republicans up for reelection in 2026 instructed her colleagues that she’s going to host a city corridor assembly “when hell freezes over.”
CNN obtained audio of Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Republican of Iowa, telling fellow Republicans in August that she has no want to hearken to her constituents yell at her in particular person—even when it is actually her job to listen to her constituents’ considerations so she will finest symbolize them in Washington.
“You know, I don’t have to hold a town hall so you can come and yell at me,” Miller-Meeks instructed a gathering of Johnson County Republicans.
She mentioned that anybody who desires to voice their considerations can discover her in public as a substitute.
“You can yell at me at the county fair—and you did! And you did. They did,” Miller-Meeks mentioned. “You know, you yell at me in church, you yell at me at the county fair, I’m out in public all the damn time. Someone yelled at me at the speedway.”
Actually, what Miller-Meeks is afraid of is being captured on video unable to defend herself when constituents ask her legit questions on why she is reducing their well being care advantages and why she will not stand as much as President Donald Trump’s moronic tariffs, that are harming farmers in her state.
In truth, earlier this yr, GOP management suggested its caucus to not maintain city halls for that very purpose—a cowardly transfer that permits Republicans to disclaim that voters really feel actual frustration that the GOP will not say no to their Expensive Chief.
The handful of Republican lawmakers who’ve held city halls have discovered themselves embarrassed once they have been unable to defend Trump’s insurance policies.
Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, proven in August 2024.
Certainly, Miller-Meeks’ fellow Iowa Republican Joni Ernst, a senator, infamously instructed a constituent at a city corridor who was fearful about Republicans’ Medicaid cuts that “we all are going to die” sometime. Since that gaffe, Ernst introduced she is not going to run for reelection subsequent yr.
Miller-Meeks, for her half, is likely one of the most susceptible Republicans up for reelection within the 2026 midterms.
Final yr, she gained her Iowa Home seat by simply 799 votes towards Democrat Christina Bohannan.
Bohannan is operating once more in 2026, an election that’s anticipated to be a a lot bluer surroundings. Inside Elections, a nonpartisan political handicapping outlet, charges the race as a “toss-up.”
Democrats have already seized on Miller-Meeks’ flippant remark that she has no plans to hearken to her constituents at a city corridor.
“Back in April, #IA01 Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks promised she would hold an in-person town hall this year, but it’s been ten months and Iowans are STILL waiting to hear why she’s backed devastating health care cuts and tariffs,” American Bridge twenty first Century, a Democratic opposition analysis group, wrote in a submit on X.
