Chuck Grassley faces challenge from within Iowa Republican Party

DES MOINES — Iowa’s longtime U.S. senator, Republican Chuck Grassley, hopes this fall to be elected to an eighth six-year term in the U.S. Senate.

But before he can face his seventh Democratic challenger over the past five decades in the Senate, Grassley must first stave off a challenge from within his own party. Jim Carlin, a lawyer and state legislator from Sioux City, is also running in Iowa’s 2022 U.S. Senate campaign.

Iowa’s primary election is June 7. Early voting starts Wednesday.

The Gazette’s Des Moines Bureau last week interviewed both candidates.

“Far too often, politicians don’t keep their promises because they are bought by special interests, or they care more about their political power than actually representing the needs of the people they are supposed to serve,” Carlin said. “I’m not afraid to stick my neck out for my constituents. My commitment is to Iowans, and I will do what it takes to represent them and fight for their values and their freedom.”

Carlin said in the Iowa Senate he was one of a small group of Republican legislators who pushed for the passage of a bill that would ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat has been detected.

While Republicans passed that bill, it was rejected by the Iowa Supreme Court and produced a ruling that stated Iowans have a right to an abortion under the state constitution.

Grassley has served in the U.S. Senate since 1981, and before that served six years in the U.S. House. He has served in Senate Republican leadership as Senate president pro tempore, and has chaired the Senate’s judiciary and finance committees.

Grassley said if he is reelected and if Republicans regain a majority in the Senate, he would once again become president pro tempore, chair of the judiciary committee and be the most tenured member in the Senate.

“With my seniority and leadership positions in the U.S. Senate, I’m running for re-election to ensure Iowa punches above its weight at the policymaking tables, where I can shape tax, trade, health care, farm policies and more that impact the lives and livelihoods of Iowans,” Grassley said.

Elected Republican leadership has remained steadfastly behind Grassley, who has secured all significant GOP endorsements. And he has vastly outperformed Carlin in fundraising: Grassley has raised more than $6.4 million this cycle, while Carlin has raised just more than $380,000, according to federal campaign finance records.

Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com