Rita Hart
| Rita Hart | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Former State Senator from Iowa's 49th District From: January 14, 2013 – January 14, 2019 | |||
| Predecessor | Hubert Houser | ||
| Successor | Chris Cournoyer | ||
| Information | |||
| Party | Democrat | ||
| Spouse(s) | Paul Hart | ||
Rita Hart (born May 5, 1956) is a former state senator from Iowa's 49th district. A liberal Democrat, she ran for United States House of Representatives in the 2020 elections following the announced retirement of seven-term left-wing congressman Dave Loebsack. After at least one recount which she pushed for,[1] it was announced that she lost to Republican opponent Mariannette Miller-Meeks by merely six votes, and currently is attempting to steal the race.
Contents
Iowa Senate
Hart voted in late March 2013 in favor of legislation to expand Medicaid under Obamacare.[2]
In early 2015, Sen. Hart voted in favor of a bill to increase the statewide minimum wage.[3] She also voted in favor of expanding availability to medical marijuana.[4]
Hart voted in favor of a bill in March 2016 to make "misgendering" someone designated as a hate crime.[5]
Largely having held a pro-abortion record, Hart voted against a bill in March 2017 to ban abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy.[6] She also voted against a measure to defund Planned Parenthood.[7] Unsurprisingly, Hart voted against legislation to ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected.[8]
Hart voted against a bill in late February 2018 to decrease tax rates.[9]
In April 2018, Hart joined all other Democrats in the state Senate in voting against legislation to require all local law enforcement to cooperate with ICE detainer requests.[10]
2018 Iowa gubernatorial election
In June 2018 amidst the 2018 gubernatorial race in Iowa, Democrat nominee Fred Hubbell picked Hart as his running mate.[11] Despite the pair being expected to narrowly win the general election over Republicans Kim Reynolds/Adam Gregg, the latter won by a slim margin.[12]
2020 U.S. House election in Iowa's 2nd district
Following Loebsack's announcement in April 2019 that he would retire rather than seek re-election,[13] Hart declared a month later her bid for the seat, and received the representative's endorsement.[Citation Needed] She won the Democrat primary uncontested and faced Republican state senator Mariannette Miller-Meeks in the general election.[14] The second congressional district has in the past been more favorable to the Democratic Party, though Trump managed to carry it in the 2016 U.S. presidential election by four percentage points[15] and again in 2020 by the same margin.[16]
As votes were being counted on Election Night and for many days since, the election proved to be a very close one, with Miller-Meeks leading Hart by merely forty-eight votes at one point.[1] A recount supported by Hart that showed Miller-Meeks leading by only six votes[17] was soon followed by the results being certified,[18] and Miller-Meeks was declared the winner.
Hart, despite losing, showed herself as a sore loser in announcing that she would appeal to the U.S. House of Representatives for the race to be "reviewed" via the Federal Contested Elections Act,[19] which she did three weeks later.[20] She is being represented by Democrat attorney Marc Elias.[21][22] Moronic liberals claimed that there supposedly had been more votes to be counted, despite the fact that such could have been resolved in the recount. Many of them falsely claimed that conservatives were "hypocritical" for opposing Hart's efforts while supporting the Trump campaign's fight against Dominion corruption, blatantly ignoring the fact that there has been no evidence of any potential election fraud in Iowa's 2nd district. In addition, Hart's appealing to the House to potentially overrule the election was undemocratic because of the fact that she could have addressed the problem to an Iowa court, which she refused to do.[23]
Iowa senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst as well as representatives-elect Ashley Hinson and Randy Feenstra have urged the House to turn down Hart's request.[24]
A poll conducted in the congressional district in mid-December 2020 showed that a strong majority of voters oppose Hart's attempt to overturn the election, including 25% of those who had voted for her.[25] Nearly 70% said that the matter would be more appropriate to be settled in an Iowa court rather than by Washington politicians, and most who supported her said that they would be less likely in the future to support a candidate who attempts to overturn an election via the House.
Nancy Pelosi assured on December 30, 2020 that Miller-Meeks will be seated but only "provisionally", as the matter will still head to the Committee on House Administration.[26]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Iowa House candidate to file for recount
- ↑ SF 296 - Expands Medicaid Eligibility - Iowa Key Vote
- ↑ SF 269 - Increases Minimum Wage - Iowa Key Vote
- ↑ SF 484 - Expands Medical Marijuana Uses - Iowa Key Vote
- ↑ SF 2284 - Amends Definition of Hate Crime to Include Gender Identity or Expression - Iowa Key Vote
- ↑ SF 471 - Prohibits Abortion After 20 Weeks of Pregnancy - Iowa Key Vote
- ↑ HF 653 - Reduces Government Fund Allocations to Planned Parenthood - Iowa Key Vote
- ↑ SF 359 - Prohibits Abortion After a Heartbeat is Detected - Iowa Key Vote
- ↑ SF 2383 - Decreases Income Tax Rates - Iowa Key Vote
- ↑ SF 481 - Requires Law Enforcement for Comply with ICE Detainer Requests - Iowa Key Vote
- ↑ Two references:
- ↑ Two references:
- ↑ Democratic Rep. Dave Loebsack to retire in 2020
- ↑ Iowa Primary Election Results: Second Congressional District
- ↑ Introducing the 2017 Cook Political Report Partisan Voter Index
- ↑ Daily Kos Elections' presidential results by congressional district for 2020, 2016, and 2012
- ↑ Republican candidate leads congressional race in Iowa by 6 votes, recount finds
- ↑ Iowa officials certify Republican Miller-Meeks's 6-vote victory
- ↑ Iowa Democrat who lost by six votes will appeal to House
- ↑ Iowa Democrat asks House to review race she lost by 6 votes
- ↑ Rita Hart's appeal to Congress doesn't have a happy ending, especially after she passed over Iowa judges. She should concede.
- ↑ Attorney Marc Elias Leads Democrat Effort to Overturn House Race in Iowa’s 2nd District
- ↑ Iowa Democrat Rita Hart to appeal 2nd District results to House
- ↑ Iowa Republicans urge U.S. House to reject Hart’s appeal in 2nd Congressional District race
- ↑ IOWA CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 2 – SURVEY MEMORANDUM
- ↑ Pelosi to seat Iowa Republican as Democratic challenger contests election results
External links
- Campaign Website
- State Legislature page
- Profile at Ballotpedia
