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Campaign Almanac: Iowa’s Hinson encourages early voting, condemns racists jokes at Trump rally
Also, Hinson and Bohannan air new TV ads in congressional races
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Republican Iowa U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson encouraged Iowans to vote early and condemned racist jokes and remarks delivered by a stand-up comic and other speakers during a rally hosted Sunday by 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Hinson, who is running for re-election in next week’s general election to continue representing Northeast Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, voted early Monday at the Linn County Auditor’s Office in Cedar Rapids, where she spoke briefly with reporters and encouraged Iowans to vote.
The two-term incumbent from Marion faces Cedar Falls Democrat Sarah Corkery and no-party candidate Jody Puffett of Delhi in the Nov. 5 election.
“It should be easy to vote and hard to cheat, and we need to bank every vote that we can,” Hinson said. “I think Iowa voters understand what's at stake this election and the contrast that's on the ballot — it's about inflation, it's about your taxes going forward, it's about security on the global stage and security for our country. And so that continues to be my closing pitch to voters. Do you want a Republican Congress and a Republican in the White House who are going to help execute on those priorities, or do you want the country to continue to go in the wrong direction? And I think voters are showing up in droves to make their voices known.”
The former state lawmaker and former KCRG-TV news anchor said she will back out on the road this week supporting Republican candidates up and down the ballot, including fellow members of Congress and those running for seats in the Iowa Legislature.
“I think it's, again, too important to sit this one out, and so I'm going to be out on the road all weekend, next weekend, with the governor making sure we're rallying voters to get them out on Election Day,” Hinson said. “I think it comes down to people are really fired up to make a change for our country, right? They see what four years of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have gotten us, and that's rampant inflation, excessive government spending and weakness on the global stage. And so people see that it's time to make a change. And I think at least the voters I'm talking to are really, really fired up to put President Trump back in the White House.”
Trump, the former president who is making another run for the White House, has endorsed her re-election campaign.
Hinson said she condemns the racist and misogynistic remarks made by speakers at Trump’s New York rally.
According to the Associated Press and New York Times, speakers at the Sunday night rally labeled Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage,” called Vice President Kamala Harris “the devil” and likened the Democratic presidential nominee running against Trump to a prostitute with “pimp handlers.”
Hinson, who has tied her re-election to a second Trump term, noted Trump did not make the offensive jokes and remarks, and highlighted what she said was a diverse and multigenerational audience that attended the rally.
“I condemn any remarks like that,” Hinson told reporters Monday. “They're not funny. Those kinds of jokes are not funny. But, I think when you look at the people who were showing up his rally yesterday, he does have a wide spectrum of support across multi generations and lots of different racial backgrounds. And I think that's because no matter who you are in this country, President Trump has communicated to you that he has a plan to help make sure everybody is prosperous.
“And I think that's why you saw the rally be so well attended. … And so I'm excited to see the support that he has and get him across the finish line for Election Day.”
Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart, in a statement, said the racist jokes, misogynistic remarks and “unhinged insults” made at Trump’s rally “showed again why we need to reject the extreme MAGA Republican agenda on Election Day”
“It’s time to put chaos and negativity in the past and start healing this nation,” Hart said.
Hinson, Bohannan air new TV ads
Both Hinson and Iowa City Democrat Christina Bohannan, who is running to unseat Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks to represent Southeast Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, released new ads late last week.
Hinson’s latest ad, which features her sons flinging food at one another in her kitchen, seeks to highlight the Republican incumbent’s ability to “cut through the chaos and dysfunction in Washington to deliver for Iowans.”
“Washington is one never-ending food fight — both sides throwing out attacks, both sides creating one heck of a mess,” Hinson says in the ad, touting her work with Democrats to expand care for expecting moms and veterans.
“And I’ll continue bringing people together to deliver results for Iowans,” she said. “If my two boys can get along sometimes, so can Washington.”
Hinson has partnered with Democrats to co-sponsor and pass various forms of legislation, including the Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act and Sgt. Ketchum Rural Veterans Mental Health Act signed into law by President Joe Biden.
Corkery and Iowa Democrats, however, note Hinson voted against the bipartisan infrastructure law and capping the price of insulin.
The Bohannan campaign released an ad Friday about "Iowans’ exasperation with Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who has taken over $4 million from special interests and then done their bidding."
Miller-Meeks, who is seeking a third term and faces a tough rematch against Bohannan, has attacked the University of Iowa law professor over her support for law enforcement and transgender rights.
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