Republican David Pautsch and his 'uphill' challenge to Iowa 1st District Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks

Last week, David Pautsch had some downtime in Fairfield. Before speaking to a gathering of Republicans, he sat down at a piano and recalled the day his son completed U.S. Army Airborne training. The two walked over to a chapel, and Pautsch said he played his son a hymn: "Mansions of the Lord." The song is probably best remembered from the 2002 Ia Drang dramatization We Were Soldiers . It was a special one for Pautsch.

“He says, ‘Can you play some more, Dad?’ I must have played another 15 times. It talks about what mothers feel when their sons die," Pautsch said. "Little did Jason realize he would be going to heaven real soon."

Pautsch lost his son, Army Cpl. Jason Pautsch, during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2009. His son’s vehicle was struck by a suicide bomber , killing him and four other soldiers. He was 20 years old.

Pautsch is also a veteran. He joked that he "served his country playing the tuba" in The Continental Army Band back in the 70s. Since then, he's watched the United States' continued involvement in war. It was one of the reasons he gave for running for Congress. He thinks of his four living children, and the son he lost.

"They thought they were fighting for freedom, but the fact of the matter is, they weren’t fighting for freedom," he said. "They were fighting for the military-industrial complex.”

It enraged Pautsch to see fellow Republicans like his primary opponent U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks voting with Democrats to pass the $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies. The move was heralded as a rare bipartisan moment in a divided Congress. It was a victory for House Speaker Mike Johnson, who a week later would be on stage with Miller-Meeks at a donor event in University Heights. He told the crowd he was in town because it's important to protect Republicans like her.

For Pautsch, Miller-Meeks and her vote confirmed a trend he despised.

“They just want to keep the majority," Pautsch told a meeting of the Jefferson County Republicans. "At some point of time, they have to get to the point where they say, you know, the message is more important than the majority. And the principle is worth a whole lot more important than the power.”

Where Miller-Meeks affirmed the election of President Joe Biden, Pautsch perpetuates the unevidenced conspiracy that the election was rigged. Miller-Meeks supported a 2022 act recognizing same-sex marriages, Pautsch opposes them. Miller-Meeks supports limited exceptions for abortions, Pautsch opposes them altogether. Pautsch’s case is that Miller-Meeks isn’t conservative enough.

But she argues these aren’t the issues voters care about.

“The economy, high prices, high interest rates. Those things are on top of people’s minds," Miller-Meeks said. "The border is an issue that affects everyone and people are feeling the effects of the border.”

Miller-Meeks has opted for a quieter two terms. Where her colleague U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson does weekly press calls, Miller-Meeks does fewer public events. IPR News reached out to her campaign to cover some events leading up to the primary, but the campaign did not respond.

Still, Pautsch's campaign is missing many factors that typically point to a competitive primary challenge.

“It would be bad for the Republican Party to have Pautsch win," said Megan Goldberg, an assistant professor of American politics at Cornell College.

She says congressional Republicans are not trying to unseat Miller-Meeks and that Pautsch lacks name recognition, two important qualities for a challenge. Making matters worse for Pautsch, Miller-Meeks has $1.7 million on hand. According to the most recent campaign finance filing Pautsch had just $8,000.

“Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ challenger doesn’t have enough frankly to run a state house legislative campaign at this point," she said. "There are zeros missing at the end of the amount that he has raised.”

“I think it’s certainly an uphill battle for him," said Chris Larimer, a professor of political science at the University of Northern Iowa.

Larimer said incumbency is a powerful card in Miller-Meeks' deck. Without name, money or powerful supporters, he says it is unlikely that Pautsch will overcome it.

“I don’t know that David Pautsch is generating the excitement that he needs at least right now and we’re getting pretty close to the primary day to make this a pretty serious challenge," he said.

Against these headwinds, Pautsch will take on Miller-Meeks in the Republican primary next Tuesday. The winner will take on Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan of Iowa City. It is her second try at winning the district.

Primaries are closed in Iowa, meaning voters must declare a party to participate. Polling places will be open on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Early voting has already begun.