(Radio Iowa) – A weekend fundraiser for Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks showcased two issues that are galvanizing voters. About a third of the program was focused on remarks from Riley Gaines, a former competitive swimmer who’s suing the N-C-Double-A for allowing a transgender athlete to compete at the national championships in 2022. “Half of the states have passed some sort of fairness in women’s sports bill — Iowa, of course, being one of those states,” Gaines said, “ultimately preventing men from competing on women’s sports and on women’s teams.”

Miller-Meeks reminded the crowd she was the first woman in her family to go to college and the first woman faculty member in the University of Iowa Department of Ophthalmology.  “I was the first woman president of the Iowa Medical Society and have often been called a trailblazer. That’s why I am passionate about this issue,” Miller-Meeks said. “We have fought for women’s rights and it is Republicans who will be women’s rights a place.”

Miller-Meeks voted for a bill to bar students who were listed as male on their birth certificate from participating in women’s sports. The subject of the Israel-Hamas war also came up during the event as four protesters in the crowd interrupted speakers to call for a ceasefire. State Representative Bobby Kaufmann of Wilton, the event’s emcee, addressed the crowd just after one protester was escorted from the event by off-duty law enforcement officers. “Isn’t it great that we live in a country where you can protest despite having very limited brain cells?” he said. “Try that stuff in Iran or in front of Hamas.”

One of four protesters escorted out of Miller-Meeks fundraiser on Sept. 7, 2024. (RI photo)

Kaufmann’s father, Iowa Republican Party chairman Jeff Kaufmann, told the crowd opposition to the protesters’ message is a key issue in this year’s election. “What you just saw there is not a splinter group of the Democratic Party,” Kaufmann said. “…a part of the Democratic Party that is going to come alive if we don’t stop this thing.”

Miller-Meeks noted the four protesters made a donation to her campaign so they could get into the event.  “We’re happy to take the Democrats’ money to beat them,” she said.

All four protesters called for a U-S arms embargo against Israel. Miller-Meeks visited Israel in late August as part of a congressional delegation. In statements posted online during the trip, Miller-Meeks called Hamas barbaric and said the U-S must stand with Israel in the face of terrorism that has no bounds. Miller-Meeks is seeking a third term in the U-S House. Christina Bohannan, Miller-Meeks’ Democratic opponent in 2022, is running against her again this year.