Iowa's congressional delegation has written a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and leadership from the House Committee on Administration urging them not to take up Democrat Rita Hart's election contest in Iowa's 2nd Congressional District. As RNLA previously reported, Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks is the rightful winner of the race, and Hart is looking to take advantage of the Democrat's House majority to circumvent Iowa's procedures and steal the seat.

In the letter to House leadership, Senator Chuck Grassley, Senator Joni Ernst, Congressman-Elect Randall Feenstra, and Congresswoman-Elect Ashley Hinson wrote:

Ms. Hart is asking the House of Representatives to create a dangerous precedent. We agree the House and Senate alike retain the ultimate power under the U.S. Constitution to determine the election and qualifications of its members. But the existence of this power does not imply the wisdom of using it without first requiring losing candidates to avail themselves of remedies under their own state’s election laws. Iowans rightly have confidence in the integrity of our state’s election officials and process. Any action to bypass or overturn a fair election conducted according to Iowa law would not be well received by the citizens of our state and would result in a cloud over the results of such efforts. The House of Representatives and the Senate have wisely in the past required losing candidates to exhaust their remedies under state law before contesting an election. The House of Representatives and the House Administration Committee should follow these precedents and dismiss any contest filed by Ms. Hart.

Valid points by IA delegation members on why the House shouldn't take up a #IA02 fed contest:
"...but the existence of this power does not imply the wisdom of using it w/o first requiring losing candidates to avail themselves of remedies under their own state’s election laws." pic.twitter.com/01PmSVt6NS

— House Admin. Committee GOP (@HouseAdmnGOP) December 16, 2020

It's not just Iowa's congressional delegation who find Hart's actions problematic. According to a recent survey, over half of voters in Iowa's 2nd Congressional would view House Democrats seating Hart over Miller-Meeks as illegitimate. As reported by the Washington Examiner:

According to the survey, which was conducted for American Action Network by Republican polling firm Cygnal,7-in-10 voters in the district say a dispute about election results should be decided by Iowa’s courts, while just 9% want the dispute decided by lawmakers in Washington. The poll includes two-thirds of voters who say they voted for Hart in the November election.

Additionally, 58% of voters in the poll say that if the House voted to overturn the state-certified election results and install Hart in Congress, they would view her as an illegitimate member. This includes 58% of voters in Davenport and 69% of voters in Des Moines, who would view her as illegitimate. Twenty-five percent of Hart’s own voters would also question her legitimacy, the poll says.

This comes as no surprise, as the post-election missteps by Hart's campaign really are astonishing:

Longtime Iowa Republican strategist David Kochel, who wasn’t involved in the campaign, told me that Hart’s post-election decisions have been so horrible that he owes a “thank you” to Hart’s advisors. Mentioning Democrat lawyer Marc Elias by name, he said, “he either has no political sense or he just likes getting paid for this boondoggle.”

Longtime Iowa Republican strategist @ddkochel Mentioning Democrat lawyer @marceelias by name, he said, “he either has no political sense or he just likes getting paid for this boondoggle.” https://t.co/CiwX2wZAvQ #ia02 #iapolitics

— Iowa Field Report.com (@IAFieldReport) December 12, 2020

House Committee on Administration Ranking Member Rodney Davis spoke on the House floor earlier today about the dangers of repeating the Democrat's 1985 "Bloody Eighth" with the Iowa-2 congressional race:

📺 It’s not just the big hair and glasses that shouldn’t come back in style from 1985, neither should Democrats’ efforts to overturn a congressional seat. The House should not repeat Indiana's ‘Bloody Eighth’ in #IA02. https://t.co/D2MWTbBSIz

— House Admin. Committee GOP (@HouseAdmnGOP) December 17, 2020

Seating Democrat Rita Hart would undermine public confidence in elections at a time when lawmakers should be doing everything they can to restore the public's trust. The will of Iowans should be honored by the House—Dr. Mariannette Miller-Meeks is the rightful winner of Iowa's 2nd congressional race.