The wash you just heard These were House Democrats who, now that Democrat Rita Hart, breathed a sigh of relief has withdrawn her challenge to the competition the result in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, which she lost to Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks with only 6 votes last November – one of next federal election in the US history.
Democrats were reportedly concerned in prospect of having to vote on whether to overthrow Miller-Meeks, especially given how loudly they protested the attempts by former President Trump and the Republicans to overthrow the 2020 elections earlier this year. Additionally, there were concerns that doing so would undermine the Democrats’ efforts consist a massive voting rights and electoral reform law. This, along with the slim majority of Democrats, suggested that it would be very difficult for Democrats to reverse the outcome – even if they felt Hart had a valid case.
In addition, Republican news had put the Democrats on the defensive. For example, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy claimed it was them trying to “steal” the election while Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell asked pointedly large corporations and organizations criticizing the GOP’s objection to the electoral college on Jan. 6 in an attempt to bring the Democrats “up to par” in challenging the Iowa result.
The situation in Iowa was rather unusual, as controversial elections are rather uncommon these days – and the reversal of election results is even rarer. As the following table shows, controversial house elections took place on a regular basis, especially in the years after the civil war when there were many disputes in the center of the congress races in the southaccording to data from Jeffery Jenkins at the University of Southern California. But now the number has decreased significantly and on average only one case every five congresses.
Controversial elections used to be far more common
Average proportion of controversial seats in the US House of Representatives by decade
| Years | Congresses | Controversial | Average Seats / Congress | Average % contested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1789-1798 | 1-5 | 18th | 90 | 4.0% |
| 1799-1808 | 6-10 | 10 | 128 | 1.6 |
| 1809-1818 | 11-15 | 14th | 167 | 1.7 |
| 1819-1828 | 16-20 | 9 | 202 | 0.9 |
| 1829-1838 | 21-25 | 11 | 230 | 1.0 |
| 1839-1848 | 26-30 | 36 | 233 | 3.1 |
| 1849-1858 | 31-35 | 14th | 234 | 1.2 |
| 1859-1868 | 36-40 | 50 | 205 | 4.9 |
| 1869-1878 | 41-45 | 75 | 273 | 5.5 |
| 1879-1888 | 46-50 | 60 | 312 | 3.8 |
| 1889-1898 | 51-55 | 85 | 347 | 4.9 |
| 1899-1908 | 56-60 | 34 | 375 | 1.8 |
| 1909-1918 | 61-65 | 36 | 418 | 1.7 |
| 1919-1928 | 66-70 | 29 | 435 | 1.3 |
| 1929-1938 | 71-75 | 30th | 435 | 1.4 |
| 1939-1948 | 76-80 | 17th | 435 | 0.8 |
| 1949-1958 | 81-85 | 12th | 435 | 0.6 |
| 1959-1968 | 86-90 | 15th | 436 | 0.7 |
| 1969-1988 | 91-95 | 15th | 435 | 0.7 |
| 1979-1988 | 96-100 | 9 | 435 | 0.4 |
| 1989-1998 | 101-105 | 6th | 435 | 0.3 |
| 1999-2008 | 106-110 | 8th | 435 | 0.4 |
| 2009-2020 | 111–116 * | 4th | 435 | 0.2 |
The House has voted for the past 50 years to reverse an election result once only: in 1985, the Democratic-controlled House examined and counted the votes in the 1984 Indiana Congressional District election and found that Democratic MP Frank McCloskey won by four votes after the Republican candidate led a state recount with 418 votes. The house then agreed 236 to 190 To put McCloskey, Call on House Republicans to go on strike.
But the Democrats had a much larger majority in 1985 than they do today, so they could have afforded 30 or more raids than they voted for McCloskey. For comparison: Less than five Democratic “No” could have sunk an attempt to bet Hart, as the Democrats currently only hold 219 to 211 Majority of seats. And some Democrats had private – – and even public – let me know They didn’t want to vote Stopping Miller-Meeks.
In the end, the math wasn’t there for Democrats to reverse the outcome, and the potential fallout doesn’t seem to have paid off, either.
