Christina Bohannan is facing renewed Republican attacks after a 2021 clip resurfaced showing her calling Iowa’s Back the Blue law an “overreaction.”
Bohannan, 59, a University of Iowa law professor turned state legislator, made the comments at a virtual legislative forum on social justice issues held in 2021. The Democratic nominee is currently waging her third bid to unseat Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, in one of the nation’s most competitive House districts.
“I think that we’re seeing a backlash and, frankly, an exaggerated backlash, an overreaction to all of that,” Bohannan said at the forum. “That’s what’s happening. A lot of this is happening because they just don’t have a lot of minorities in their districts. They don’t interact with people on any kind of regular basis, and, so, they don’t see these issues.”
The law she targeted, Senate File 342, was signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds in 2021 amid the national wave of anti-police sentiment following George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. The bill raised penalties for rioting to a class D felony carrying up to five years in prison and toughened punishments for unlawful assembly.
Iowa Rep. Jarad Klein, the Republican sponsor, pressed colleagues hard during floor debate. “Let me be clear: If you support law enforcement, truly support law enforcement, you will be voting ‘yes’ tonight,” he said. “If you stand up and say you support law enforcement, your words will become meaningless with a ‘no’ vote. Actions speak louder than words.”
Reynolds, in a press release at the signing, framed the measure as a historic commitment. “I made it clear in my Condition of the State Address that Iowa’s law enforcement will always have my respect, and I will always have their back,” she said. “Today’s bill embodies that commitment in a historic way. The public peace is too important, and the safety of our officers too precious to tolerate destructive behavior.”
Bohannan, then serving in the Iowa House after unseating a 20-year Democratic incumbent in 2020, pushed back against the legislation’s provisions protecting drivers who struck protesters.
“The bill that’s coming over to the House from the Senate about the protestors actually would make it OK for a person to drive negligently or grossly negligently and hit a protester, and there would be immunity for that,” she said. “It’s sick. These are kids, mostly.”
The final law does include civil liability protection for drivers, though only for those “exercising due care” who injure someone blocking traffic while engaging in disorderly conduct.
Republicans have seized on the resurfaced footage to amplify long-running soft-on-crime attacks against Bohannan. Zach Kraft, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, unloaded in a statement.
“Christina Bohannan achieved the ultra-rare final boss level of woke where police are bad, criminals are good and anyone who disagrees is racist,” Kraft said. “There is a reason why this DEI queen has been rejected twice by voters. She is straight up nuts, and her soft-on-crime agenda would endanger all Iowans.”
The “DEI queen” label lands as Bohannan tries to flip a seat she lost by razor-thin margins in consecutive cycles. Miller-Meeks defeated her 53.4% to 46.6% in 2022, then held on by just 799 votes in 2024, a 50.0% to 49.8% finish that ranked among the closest House races nationwide.
Bohannan’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on whether she still stands by her 2021 assessment of the Back the Blue bill.