WATCH: Battleground Democrat called Iowa a ‘backwater’ over transgender athletes ban

A Democrat hoping to flip one of the country’s most competitive House seats called her state a “backwater” over Republican efforts to bar transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports, according to unearthed footage obtained by Fox News Digital.

House candidate Christina Bohannan made the comments during a 2021 legislative forum while opposing a GOP proposal barring biological males from competing on female sports teams.

Bohannan’s comments could provide fresh ammunition for Republicans as the repeat candidate seeks a third bid against Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, in a swing district that President Donald Trump carried by more than eight points in 2024.

“They’re introducing these bills and making these comments to try to make a point,” Bohannan, who previously served in the Iowa state legislature, said, referring to her GOP colleagues. “And I think even that is really damaging to people and sends a very bad message about our state that’s going to make the state look like a backwater.”

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Iowa, under Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, enacted a transgender athletes ban in 2022. Bohannan voted against the measure.

The comments are the latest instance of Bohannan torching Iowa for rejecting left-wing policies.

Bohannan also said in 2021 the Hawkeye State would be seen as “backwards” if lawmakers approved a bill prohibiting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) training at public schools and universities. Reynolds signed the legislation later that year.

“I think that it’s going to send a very bad message about Iowa and that it is going to seem like…this backwards state that doesn’t understand there are things like systemic racism,” the Democrat hopeful said on the “Under the Dome” podcast in 2021.

Bohannan notably served as chairwoman of the University of Iowa College of Law’s DEI committee, where she urged students to support the Black Lives Matter movement, Fox News Digital previously reported. In that role, she sent students a letter encouraging them to financially contribute to several activist funds, some of which supported defunding police.

Bohannan lost to Miller-Meeks by fewer than 800 votes in 2024, making it the closest House race in the nation. She also launched a failed run for the seat in 2022.

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The nonpartisan Cook Political Report says the rematch contest is a “toss-up.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), which is aggressively working to re-elect Miller-Meeks to a third House term, sharply criticized Bohannan’s remarks in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“Liberal Christina Bohannan didn’t just vote against protecting girls’ sports, she mocked Iowans for standing up for women and girls,” NRCC spokeswoman Emily Tuttle said.

“Bohannan has made it clear she’s for they/them, not Iowa families,” Tuttle continued, invoking Trump’s signature attack line against former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Fox News Digital reached out to Bohannan for comment.

Bohannan’s remarks come as transgender issues continue to split Democrats, while public polling has shown broad support for limiting girls’ and women’s sports to biological females.

A New York Times/Ipsos poll released in 2025 found that nearly eight in 10 Americans opposed biological males participating in women’s sports. Roughly 70% of Democrats or Democrat-leaning respondents held the same position, according to the survey.

Miller-Meeks cheered the Supreme Court in June upholding state-level bans on biological males participating on female sports teams.

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“Today’s Supreme Court decision is a win for girls’ sports,” the Iowa lawmaker said in a statement following the ruling. “I have and will continue to fight to ensure every female athlete has a fair chance.”

Bohannan, by contrast, did not appear to publicly comment on the ruling.

Fox News Digital’s Elaine Mallon contributed to this report.