Democratic Iowa U.S. Senate candidates make their pitches during annual party fundraiser

CLEAR LAKE — Iowa’s crowded field of Democrats running for U.S. Senate in 2026 pitched themselves and their campaigns to an audience of party members as they gear up for next year’s primary.

At the Iowa Democratic Party’s annual fundraiser, dubbed the “Wing Ding,” at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, all five Democrats vying to run for the seat held by Republican Sen. Joni Ernst shared their personal background, platforms and took jabs at Ernst along the way.

While the group comes from different corners of the state and places themselves across the ideological spectrum, they agreed on one thing: Ernst needs to leave Congress.

“Rural hospitals and clinics across our state are going to close because of these Medicaid cuts. Utility bills are going up. The rich are getting richer while we are being left behind,” Iowa state Sen. Zach Wahls, of Coralville, said during his speech. “Joni Ernst said that she would go to Washington and make them squeal but she didn't change Washington, Washington changed her. I'd say Joni Ernst is all squeal and no bacon.”

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Ernst’s controversial comments in a May town hall sparked a domino effect among Iowa Democrats jumping into the race. She said, “Well, we all are going to die,” in response to an audience member’s concern about work requirements and spending reductions for Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in the GOP-backed “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” signed into law in July.

Republicans, including Ernst, say that Medicaid will now focus on the most vulnerable who meet the eligibility requirements for the program.

While Ernst hasn’t officially announced a re-election campaign, she hired a campaign manager in June and has a campaign war chest of more than $3.4 million as of the end of June.

Most national election forecasters have ranked Iowa’s 2026 U.S. Senate election as likely to remain in Republican hands. Inside Elections, Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball classify the election outcome as “likely Republican,” although that’s downgraded from “safe Republican” earlier this year.

The string of Democratic campaign announcements started in April when Iowa Army and Marine Corps veteran Nathan Sage, former executive director of the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce, mounted a campaign against Ernst.

Sage referred to himself as “not your typical politician,” highlighting his time working as a mechanic and other service industry jobs.

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“Maybe I need to be a little fat, hairy, cussing ex-Marine to be able to get the attention,” Sage said in his speech Thursday evening. “We need to understand we're done with the world we're in, and we're going to do something better. We're going to fight for people in this world.”

State lawmakers, including Wahls and state Rep. J.D. Scholten, of Sioux City, jumped into the race soon after Ernst’s May town hall, inspired in part by her comments.

Scholten urged the other candidates to focus on parts of Iowa outside metro areas where Democrats face an uphill battle with voters, adding that is the only way one of them will be elected to the Senate.

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“In our primary, I really want to challenge the candidates to get out there, because there's going to be a lot of focus in places like Des Moines and Cedar Rapids and Iowa City,” Scholten said. “In order to win in 2026, we have to go to all 99 counties. We have to talk not only to Democrats, but to non-Democrats and welcome people into our coalition, because that's how you overperform.”

In 2020 and 2018, Scholten ran for Iowa's Fourth Congressional District seat, the most Republican in the state. He lost to current Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra by about 24 points in 2020. Two years earlier, Scholten finished 3.3 points behind then-longtime Rep. Steve King.

Scholten's 2024 state House election run against Republican Josh Steinhoff saw him win by 6.9 points in a district carried by President Donald Trump.

Council Bluffs state Rep. Josh Turek, who launched his campaign on Tuesday, also flexed his ability to win in Republican leaning parts of the state. In 2022, he won election to the state legislature by six votes.

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In 2024, Turek won the same district by five points, while Pottawattamie County as a whole went for Trump by 20 points. Turek added that recent Medicaid cuts hit close to home for him as he relied on social services as a kid after being born with spina bifida and undergoing 21 surgeries before the age of 12.

“I'm running out for the U.S. Senate because all of us heard what Joni Ernst said, ‘Well, we're all gonna die.’ I know this firsthand,” Turek said. “I've overcome a lot of economic adversity on the health care side, working with individuals in the for-profit arena, the nonprofit arena, seeing the struggles of these individuals.”

Jackie Norris, chair of the Des Moines School Board, who launched her campaign in early August, said as a teacher, she has seen families in the state struggle to access food and housing. She said the best way to help Iowans is to “buck” the status quo and have new representation in Congress.

“Red versus blue is not solving problems,” Norris said. “The yelling, the chaos, the exhaustion. We're all tired. It's not working, and no one is held accountable.”

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Harry Dunn, a former U.S. Capitol Police officer who responded to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, was the event’s headlining speaker. He ran for Maryland’s 3rd Congressional District in 2024, but came in second in the Democratic primary. Dunn urged candidates to remember that they “work for the people” as they continue forward on the campaign trail and shared his personal experience responding to the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The primary election in Iowa is scheduled for June 2, 2026.

Jared McNett of the Sioux City Journal and Gazette Deputy Des Moines Bureau Chief Tom Barton contributed to this report.