There's A Mean Wind A-Blowin' In Iowa For Marianne Miller-Meeks

By Ed Scarce — September 2, 2025

Like all Republicans these days, when given the choice of voting for her constituents' interests or Trump, Rep. Marianne Miller-Meeks (R-IA) chose Trump. But to do so she plays a neat little game of talking out of both sides of her mouth, as she did last week when she told a Des Moines media outlet, "Wind power works!" yet the next morning appeared with Trump's Energy Secretary, who lashed out at wind power and has called renewable energy "nonsensical." (Which sort of makes as much sense as putting someone from the fracking industry in as your Energy Secretary, but I digress.)

The Miller-Meeks example teaches us a valuable lesson, though. Stop electing Republicans who only serve Trump.

Source: Electoral-Vote

The situation in which Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) finds herself may help to shed some light on the choice that Joni Ernst is apparently about to make. Miller-Meeks represents the R+4 IA-01 and, as some readers may recall, she won the single-closest race in 2024, outpacing Democrat Christina Bohannan by just 798 votes out of 414,078 cast (a margin of victory of less than 0.2%).

Well, Bohannan is back for another bite at the apple... well, OK, another bite at the cob of corn. Meanwhile, Miller-Meeks has placed herself squarely between a rock and a hard place. See, Iowa gets two-thirds of its electricity from wind power, the very same wind power that the BBB is designed to cripple. The turbines not only keep residents supplied with electricity, they also keeps Iowans' power bills among the lowest in the country. They like their wind power.

The Representative behaves as a dutiful Trumper at some times, and like a a dutiful Iowan at others. For example, last week, she sat for an interview with a Des Moines media outlet, and decreed "Wind works. Iowa has proved that." And the next morning, she traveled to Ames, IA, and stood immediately to the right of Trump Energy Secretary Chris Wright as he decreed renewable energy to be "nonsensical." Iowans, like voters in most places, are not fans of politicians who are hypocrites, and who appear to be talking out of both sides of their mouths.

There's been one poll of the probable Bohannan/Miller-Meeks matchup so far. It was commissioned by the Democratic Majority PAC, which is obviously partisan. However, it was done by a real pollster (PPP), and the PAC wants accurate data, so it knows how best to invest its resources. So, the poll may be trustworthy. Anyhow, it has Bohannan up 4 points, 43% to 39%. Of course, we'll have a much better picture once there are more polls, much closer to Election Day.

Politico has more on the conundrum that Miller-Meeks finds herself in.

Hailing from a state that gets nearly two-thirds of its electricity from wind turbines while paying some of the lowest power bills in the nation, Miller-Meeks has been a leading GOP champion in the House for an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy supporting the growth of renewables alongside fossil fuels. But she also cast a crucial vote for Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, which wiped out billions of dollars in wind’s economic incentives — throwing Iowa’s 50-plus wind-related companies into uncertainty.

And

Few states have embraced wind power the way Iowa has.

The Republican stronghold gets more of its electricity from wind than any other state. More than 50 companies are part of its wind industry, which has drawn $22 billion in total investments in the past three decades. Despite Trump’s and Wright’s claims that wind power makes electricity more expensive and unreliable, Iowa’s power costs are among the lowest in the nation and its grid is among the most stable.

At an average electricity rate of just 9.19¢ per kWh, Iowans pay just about a third of what Californians pay for electricity, but Miller-Meeks would put that in jeopardy, all to serve Trump.

Do better, Iowa.