One of the biggest spenders on behalf of U.S. House Democrats launched digital advertising this week targeting U.S. Representatives Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn in Iowa’s first and third Congressional districts. The ads, enclosed in full below, claim the GOP incumbents “could cost you more,” because they support President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for health and human services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
The House Majority PAC’s 501(c)4 affiliate, House Majority Forward, is funding the 30-second spots, part of a $10 million campaign targeting nine potentially vulnerable House Republicans.
According to data compiled by OpenSecrets, House Majority PAC spent some $196 million to influence Congressional races during the 2024 cycle, mostly on negative messaging about Republicans. In Iowa’s first district, the group spent about $3.87 million against Miller-Meeks and $86,580 supporting her Democratic challenger, Christina Bohannan. House Majority PAC spent roughly $1.45 million against Nunn and $163,500 supporting his Democratic challenger, Lanon Baccam.
In December, the House Majority PAC put IA-01 and IA-03 on its list of “top targets” for the 2026 election cycle. Miller-Meeks was one of the most underperforming GOP incumbents of 2024, beating Bohannan by 799 votes (49.98 percent to 49.79 percent) in a district Trump carried by 35,807 votes (53.3 percent to 44.9 percent for Kamala Harris), according to Bleeding Heartland’s tally of certified county-level results.
Nunn didn’t lag as much behind the top of the Republican ticket. He defeated Baccam by 15,784 votes (51.8 percent to 47.9 percent) in a district Trump carried by 18,602 votes (51.3 percent to 46.9 percent).
The “Cost You More” ads have identical scripts and imagery, other than the names and pictures of the House Republicans. Here’s the Miller-Meeks version.
And here is the Nunn version.
My transcript:
Male voice-over: Everything is too expensive. But Congressman Zach Nunn could cost you more.
Zach Nunn is supporting Robert Kennedy Jr., who plans to restrict safe products farmers rely on, based on conspiracy theories. That will drive up the cost of meat and produce.
And with RFK Jr. in charge, they plan to put a new sales tax on imported food, making groceries even more expensive.
Tell Zach Nunn, stop supporting RFK Jr.’s plans to raise prices. [the viewer sees the phone number for the Washington, DC office of the member of Congress]
Note that these ads don’t urge the viewer to vote against Nunn or Miller-Meeks in the next election. The “tell so and so” message at the end is typical for ads funded by 501(c)4 groups, because such “social welfare organizations” are not supposed to have political activity as their “primary purpose.”
The central argument is odd in several ways. House members don’t vote to confirm presidential nominees. In addition, I am not aware of Nunn or Miller-Meeks publicly endorsing RFK Jr. or his ideas about farming. If confirmed as health and human services secretary, Kennedy will not be in a position to restrict “products farmers rely on.” He could influence Food and Drug Administration regulations on food dyes or processed foods, but he won’t be in charge of regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture or Environmental Protection Agency.
Nor will Kennedy be able to impose any “sales tax.” Trump will decide whether to put new tariffs on imported food. That’s not the same thing as a sales tax, though economists agree tariffs would raise food costs for consumers.
CJ Warnke, communications director for the House Majority PAC and House Majority Forward, confirmed via email that the line about a “new sales tax on imported food” refers to the proposed tariffs. If the incoming president follows through with his tariff threats, the price of groceries will increase. But that result would not have any direct connection to Kennedy; it would be on Trump.
I asked for links to comments from the incumbents expressing support for Kennedy. Warnke replied that “Nunn and Miller-Meeks support Trump and his agenda, which means they support his nominees. If they’d like to publicly challenge the idea that they support RFK, we would certainly welcome that.”
Whether or not these ads can convince Iowa voters to blame their member of Congress for rising food prices, one thing is clear: despite the disappointing 2024 election results, national Democrats are serious about competing in two of Iowa’s U.S. House districts. That could boost other Democratic candidates on the ballot in the midterm election.
Full list of House Republicans targeted in House Majority Forward’s new digital ad campaign:
- Rep. Nick Begich, AK-AL
- Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, IA-01
- Rep. Zach Nunn, IA-03
- Rep. Tom Kean Jr., NJ-07
- Rep. Nick LaLota, NY-01
- Rep. Mike Lawler, NY-17
- Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, PA-07
- Rep. Rob Bresnahan, PA-08
- Rep. Scott Perry, PA-10
Map of Iowa’s Congressional districts:
1 Comment
Like a drunk sailor
If these big spenders had invested a little money on Baccam in November, baby monitor cheat Nunn would not have been reelected. They didn’t, too busy dumping money into a Presidential election they had zero chance to win. Now that the election is over, they should be decent and quiet, and let the Parliament work. But they want to keep the ad creators and the donation solicitors on their payroll.
When you are asked to donate for the Democrats, remember that. Remember also how the DNC destroyed our caucus and mocked our diversity.
Karl M Fri 17 Jan 7:43 AM