Christina Bohannan

Several candidates who ran last cycle, but lost narrowly, are running again to get the job done this time around, including law professor, engineer and former Iowa State Representative Christina Bohannan. In a district Trump won by 8 points in 2024 Christina came within 799 votes of winning and was able to get 30,000 Iowans who voted for Trump to vote for her. Of everyone on the Blue Boosters list, she is the candidate who came closest to beating the same opponent she faces again this year — 800 votes between them. She is a very strong candidate and it's great she is giving it another go.

The climate in Iowa this year is more favorable now. The national climate has shifted at least 7 points since last year. Our respected candidate for Governor, Rob Sand, was unopposed in the Democratic primary and has already outraised his Republican opponent — the polls have him ahead. Democrat Josh Turek won the Iowa Senate primary to fill the seat of retiring Republican Joni Ernst — and now has a Blue Boosters dossier of his own. Democrats on the ground are far more motivated, and Trump's misguided trade policies are doing enormous harm to farmers and everyone dependent on the farm economy in this agricultural powerhouse. Her opponent has voted for the Republican uglies — tariffs, health care cuts, higher energy costs — and is going to have a very hard time "defending the indefensible" in their election. And Christina is now a far more experienced candidate.

All eyes are on Iowa. As of July 16, State Democratic Chair Rita Hart laid out how the whole Iowa ballot is breaking our way — a US Senate pickup (Turek), the Governor's office (Sand), Christina in IA-01, and even Sarah Trone Garriott in IA-06. Chair Hart could be speaking about New Mexico, too: "…the number one reason why people decide to vote for whoever they end up voting for… is a conversation. A conversation with a friend, a family member, a neighbor. Someone who knocks on their door… more than a flyer that they get in the mail, more than an ad that they see on TV." Field campaigns don't cost what TV ads do — but they still need our small-dollar donations for supervision and gas.

Christina does a great job explaining just how different this cycle feels right now on the ground, how much more favorable it is than last year. It is important that folks hear this from one of our top candidates, for it affirms that more is possible for us in 2026 — that with hard work this can be a cycle of opportunity for us across the country, even in tough-to-win red states and red places like Iowa.

For more context on the opportunities in Iowa this year, watch a recent interview with Iowa Democratic Chair Rita Hart. She provides a terrific overview of the 2026 electoral landscape in Iowa, and explains why she believes it can be a year of progress for us in this critical state — including potentially in a US Senate race.

This is the race in 2024, and Bohannan will try again against the same MAGA in 2026.