Campaign Almanac: Former governor candidate Hubbell endorses Wahls in Iowa’s Democratic Senate primary

DES MOINES — Fred Hubbell, the 2018 candidate for Iowa governor, is endorsing Zach Wahls for Iowa’s U.S. Senate election, which has a competitive Democratic primary, the Wahls campaign announced this week.

Hubbell and his wife Charlotte endorsed Wahls, a state legislator from Coralville.

Hubbell won a Democratic primary for governor in 2018 and lost the general election to Republican incumbent Gov. Kim Reynolds by fewer than 3 percentage points. Hubbell, a Des Moines business executive, spent $7 million of his own money on that campaign.

Wahls is one of three Democrats campaigning for the party’s nomination in Iowa’s open-seat U.S. Senate election. The others are Josh Turek, a state legislator from Council Bluffs; and Nathan Sage, a former chamber of commerce leader from Indianola.

Iowa’s 2026 U.S. Senate election is open-seat after Republican incumbent Joni Ernst announced last year that she will not seek re-election to a third, six-year term.

Seeking the Republicans’ nomination are Eastern Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson and Sioux City lawyer Jim Carlin. Hinson is widely expected to earn the nomination.

Libertarian Thomas Laehn also is running for the U.S. Senate in Iowa.

“Zach Wahls is the strongest Democrat in this race because he can build the broad coalition it takes to win statewide: Democrats, independents, and the Republicans who know Ashley Hinson isn’t working for them,” Hubbell said in a statement issued by the Wahls campaign. “Zach has the grit, the message, and the organization to go toe-to-toe with Hinson and beat her.”

Wahls had the best fundraising performance among Iowa’s Democratic U.S. Senate candidates in the final three months of 2025; he raised more than $742,000 in the period and finished the year with more than $733,000 in his campaign account.

Three prominent national elections forecasters — Sabato’s Crystal Ball, Cook Political Report and Inside Elections — all project Iowa’s U.S. Senate election as “likely Republican.”

Wahls’ campaign also this week announced a series of endorsements including union and community leaders. Among them were Grinnell Mayor Sam Cox and Danny Homan, the former president of AFSCME Council 61, one of the state’s largest public workers unions.

“Public employees keep Iowa running, and too often politicians take them for granted. Not Zach Wahls,” Homan said in a press release from the Wahls campaign. “I’ve watched Zach show up, listen, and stand with the workers who serve our communities every day. He’s been unwavering in his commitment to fair pay, safe staffing, strong benefits, and the dignity public employees and their families have earned.”

Wahls’ latest endorsers also include city and county leaders from Des Moines, Ankeny, Johnston, Fremont and Wapello County, among others.

Iowa’s primary election is June 2, and the general election is Nov. 3.

Chuck Grassley endorses Hinson for U.S. Senate

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Iowa Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley is endorsing Eastern Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson to join him in the Senate, Hinson’s campaign announced this week.

Grassley has served in the U.S. Senate since 1981. Iowa will elect a new U.S. Senator this year after Republican incumbent Joni Ernst announced last year that she will not seek another term.

Jim Carlin, a lawyer from Sioux City, also is seeking the Republican Party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate. Carlin also ran against Grassley in the 2022 Republican primary.

“(Hinson) has represented me and Barbara for the last five years in the House and has never backed down from a fight for her constituents,” Grassley said in a statement distributed by the Hinson campaign. “I have no doubt that she will be the right person to work alongside me in the Senate to make Washington run a lot more like Iowa.”

Three Iowa Democrats are campaigning for their party’s nomination: state legislators Zach Wahls of Coralville and Josh Turek of Council Bluffs, and former chamber of commerce leader Nathan Sage of Indianola. Libertarian Thomas Laehn also is running for the U.S. Senate in Iowa.

Anti-abortion group pledges $3 million to support candidates in Iowa

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Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, an anti-abortion political advocacy group, announced this week it will dedicate $3.2 million to contact 500,000 Iowa voters and help elect what they called pro-life leaders.

The field effort will focus primarily on Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Davenport, will target anti-abortion voters who do not consistently vote in midterm elections and persuadable voters, and will be led by state director Marlene Downing, according to the group’s press release.

The group also announced its endorsements of Ashley Hinson for U.S. Senate and Mariannette Miller-Meeks for Congress.

“It is crucial to elect bold pro-life leaders to the House and Senate this year, as well as a strong pro-life governor to succeed Kim Reynolds who will fiercely protect babies and mothers in Iowa,” SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in the press release. “We know the Democrats will be spending millions to defeat pro-life heroes and turn the spigot of forced taxpayer funding for abortion businesses back on. Our passionate canvassers are fired up to stop that from happening, talking to hundreds of thousands of voters right at their doors, and keep Iowa proudly pro-life.”

Abortion rights group endorses Trone Garriott in Iowa-3

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EMILY’s List, a political advocacy organization that supports female candidates who support legal abortions, endorsed Democrat Sarah Trone Garriott in Central Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District.

Trone Garriott seeks her party’s nomination to challenge Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn.

Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District is considered one of the most competitive in the country and is expected to play a role in which party emerges from this fall’s midterm elections with the U.S. House majority.

“Sarah Trone Garriott has a proven record of winning tough races and flipping Republican districts,” EMILY’s List President Jessica Mackler said in a press release. “A mom, minister, and fierce advocate for working families, Sarah has fought to lower costs, expand affordable health care, and restore reproductive freedom. Iowa deserves a leader who will put people first in Washington — not a rubber stamp for Donald Trump.”

Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau

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