Will Pelosi steal a pro-life House seat elected by Iowa voters?

House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi

Marianette Miller-Meeks apparently won a squeaker of an election to the House of Representatives in Iowa’s 2nd district last November.

The vote was close and recounted, with the pro-life Miller-Meeks coming out 6 votes ahead of abortion rights proponent, Rita Hart. A bipartisan panel unanimously certified the outcome, and Miller-Meeks was seated in the House this January.

However, rather than appealing the outcome in Iowa state courts, Ms. Clark appealed the outcome directly to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her party, which controls the House.

Mill-Meeks explains:

Marianette Miller-Meeks

“I was ahead on election night. I was ahead at the official county canvass of all 24 counties. All of these ballots were examined. And then in the recount, [there] is a three person bipartisan board, eyeballs on these ballots that were considered illegitimate under Iowa law — and she could have appealed to the Iowa courts, but did not, because under Iowa law, these ballots would have been tossed out. She knew that she would lose. So, yes, strategically, they felt better to appeal to the House Committee on Administration and Congress, which is a majority of Democrats. So it changes it from an election process.”

Pelosi considers abortion-rights to be foundational to her party’s belief system. Her House majority is a slim eight votes. Pelosi’s career has been defined by her willingness to play hardball politics. To that end, she acknowledges that she can “see a scenario” where she replaces a pro-lifer with a pro-choicer, even though that’s not what Iowans want.

Speaker Pelosi can’t lose many of her party’s votes to pull off this brazen political power play. But even one of her own caucus, Rep. Dean Phillips from Minnesota, opposes the move:

“Losing a House election by six votes is painful for Democrats. But overturning it in the House would be even more painful for America. Just because a majority can, does not mean a majority should,” Phillips Tweeted.

So will Pelosi let Iowans elect their own Representative or not? Stay tuned.