Ethics complaint alleges Miller-Meeks voted in Davenport despite living in Ottumwa

DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Media Iowa Capitol Bureau) – An eastern Iowa woman has filed a complaint alleging that 1st District Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks does not live where she says she does.

Miller-Meeks was elected in 2020, but the following year her Ottumwa home was no longer in her district. In 2022, she ran for eastern Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, while her home was in the 3rd District. Miller-Meeks said she would move to the 1st District.

Iowa has four congressional districts. All are currently represented by Republicans.(KCRG)

Former Democratic congressman Dave Loebsack made a similar decision when he and his wife moved from Mount Vernon to Iowa City due to redistricting.

“It wasn’t that big of a sacrifice, but it was a sacrifice, there’s no doubt about it, but I thought I should do it for my constituents. I thought I owed it to them,” Loebsack said.

We have received a complaint filed with the Office of Congress Ethics.

The article claims that Miller-Meeks still lives in Ottumwa but votes in Davenport.

For more than 20 years, Miller-Meeks and her husband, Curtis, have lived in their Ottumwa home. In 2022, Miller-Meeks changed her voter registration address to state Sen. Chris Cournoyer’s home in Le Claire. She now says it’s an apartment address in Davenport.

Although Miller-Meeks has claimed to live at a Scott County address for two years, he still uses an Ottumwa address for some matters.

This is on the Federal Election Commission’s nominating form for this election.

On the 2024 Iowa Secretary of State candidate list, her address is listed as a post office box in Ottumwa.

In December, she also donated to a Virginia congressional candidate, providing an Ottumwa address.

But that doesn’t mean she did anything wrong since she claims Davenport is her primary residence.

This may be confusing, but will the Miller-Meeks case be investigated?

Donald Sherman is a former staff attorney on the U.S. House Ethics Committee. He is currently executive director of the nonpartisan Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

He says the committee typically deals with much more serious allegations of misconduct. “There’s still the question of, you know, what could happen here, but it’s not something that the OCE regularly reports to the Ethics Committee,” Sherman said.

Sherman argues that the principle Miller-Meeks is accused of violating is a “universal” principle that says members of Congress should not engage in violations of the law that would reflect poorly on the character of the House of Representatives.

“This provision is added when the committee finds a material and serious violation of some other provision of law or House rules. And therefore, it is not, in and of itself, a violation,” Sherman said.

We also checked state law. There is nothing that simply states that you must spend a certain number of nights per week in a place to be considered a residence for voting purposes.

Sherman says the Office of Congressional Ethics takes complaints from the public and forwards them to the House Ethics Committee if it determines there has been a credible ethics violation. If the committee finds a violation, it can issue a letter of reprimand. It can also impose more serious sanctions, such as censure or expulsion from the House, but those must be voted on by the full House.

While members of Congress don’t have to live in the district they represent, Loebsack, a former congressman, argues they should.

“I think it’s really important psychologically for these people to know that you have a district in the state. And that, you know, you’re not living somewhere else just because you don’t want to move, just because you don’t want to sell your house. I think a lot of people find that strange, honestly,” Loebsack said.

The complaint was filed by an 87-year-old woman from Le Claire. We called her and asked her why she filed the complaint and whether she was working with a democratic organization, but she never called back.

In a statement, the Miller-Meeks campaign called the complaint “frivolous.”

Sherman notes that the Ethics Commission does not undertake investigative action or announce any findings within 60 days of an election.

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Conner Hendricks covers state government and politics for Gray Media-owners stations in Iowa. Write to him at [email protected]; and follow him on Facebook at Conner Hendricks Television or on X/Twitter @ConnerReports.