NRCC poll: Majority of swing district voters oppose Democrats’ challenge to Iowa House race

Voters in battleground districts across the U.S. largely oppose an effort by Democrats to challenge the election results in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, internal polling from the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) obtained by The Hill shows.

Iowa Democratic candidate Rita Hart called for the House Administration Committee to review the election results after Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) won the House race by just six votes. Hart argued a handful of ballots were unjustly rejected by the state.

According to the survey, 68 percent of those polled in U.S. battleground districts oppose the effort to contest the results of the Iowa congressional election, while 54 percent said they strongly oppose the move. 

The poll showed that “62 percent of suburban voters, 66 percent of college graduates, 69 percent of independents and 62 percent of seniors” disagreed with contesting the election.

Democratic voters were slightly more open to the challenge, with 44 percent saying they opposed the move. 

Those polled overwhelmingly said they felt “House Democrats are being hypocritical” for supporting the effort after pushing back against Republicans’ efforts to challenge the election results in key swing states earlier this year. 

“By a nearly 2-1 margin (58-31 percent) voters agree that House Democrats are being hypocritical after those same Democrats dismissed President Trump’s requests for investigations into the Presidential election and accepted Joe Bidens victory,” the NRCC memo stated. 

House Republicans have been vocal in their criticisms of the push to unseat Miller-Meeks. Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Monday calling on his fellow California lawmaker to reject the efforts. 

GOP lawmakers argue that leaving the results in the hands of the Democratic-controlled House Administration Committee would be an unconstitutional power grab. 

Democrats, including Pelosi and those serving in the Biden administration, have dismissed accusations it would be unfair to overturn the race, arguing they want to ensure every ballot was fairly counted. 

The poll also comes as Republicans have been bullish on their odds of taking back the House in 2022.

GOP political operatives said the effort to challenge the results will backfire on Democrats during the next election cycle, with an internal NRCC memo stating it would be “politically toxic and will further hinder their already-dim 2022 election chances.” 

“House Democrats’ hypocritical efforts to overturn a certified election will doom their reelection chances and their majority,” NRCC spokesman Michael McAdams said in a statement. 

The House Administration Committee received briefs from both Miller-Meeks and Hart on Monday. 

The NRCC’s survey was conducted from March 22-25 in 16 battleground districts with 1,200 voter participants. Forty percent of the interviews were conducted via cell phone.