Governor's race news, 1Q fundraising, abortion bill returns
April 20 edition of "KHOI's Capitol Week"
We’ve reached the 100th day of the 2026 legislative session, and the Iowa House and Senate still haven’t agreed on state budget targets or property tax reform, the two “must-do” items before adjournment. So it appears we’re headed into at least a week of overtime.
Spencer Dirks and I spent most of our 30 minutes together Monday evening on 2026 campaign news. There was a lot to cover! We did find time for one legislative story: the return of an abortion medication bill in the Iowa House.
The audio file for our April 20 show is at the top of this post. Click here to find the “KHOI’s Capitol Week” archive, going back to 2022.
Here’s your written recap, for those who would rather read than listen. If your email provider truncates this post, you can read it without interruption here.
Feenstra speaks in new campaign ad
Last week U.S. Representative Randy Feenstra released the third spot in what he called a multimillion-dollar ad buy. It’s the first where we hear the candidate speaking to the camera. Previous ads featured male voice-overs reading the script, like this ad from late March, which claimed President Trump and Randy Feenstra secured the border to keep gangs out.
In the new ad, Feenstra states, “I’m a Trump conservative who knows government isn’t the solution. It’s the problem. As a governor, I’ll lower and freeze property taxes, rip out regulations hurting farms and small businesses, and attract new industries for better jobs and bigger paychecks.”
“With me, big government liberals will never win. Iowa was built by people who work–not politicians who take.”
His delivery doesn’t sound very natural. This is unfamiliar territory for him.
Internal poll shows “commanding lead” for Feenstra
On Friday, Feenstra’s campaign strategist Brian Dumas posted a polling memo showing a “commanding lead” for Feenstra in the five-way GOP primary for governor. The poll found 41.2 percent of likely voters supported Feenstra, 8.8 percent were for Adam Steen, 8.2 percent for Zach Lahn, 4.8 percent for Brad Sherman, and 4.6 percent for Eddie Andrews.
Victory Enterprises (a vendor for the Feenstra campaign) conducted the poll, which was in the field April 14-15.
I’m generally skeptical about internal polls, especially when we can’t see the whole package (including questionnaire, likely voter screen, cross-tabs, etc). It’s important to remember that Feenstra’s campaign released a poll in May 2024 showing him 54 points ahead of Kevin Virgil, his primary challenger in the fourth Congressional district. Feenstra ended up winning the nomination by a 60 percent to 40 percent margin.
A different polling firm conducted that 2024 survey, but still–it’s better to be cautious. Non-response rates are high for any kind of poll. It’s hard to identify likely primary voters, and we have no idea how many Republicans will turn out for the June 2 election.
Feenstra recycles Joni Ernst endorsement
On Saturday, Senator Joni Ernst posted a video supporting Feenstra, saying Iowans “cannot afford a liberal extremist like Rob Sand” winning the election, and that “Randy is taking Iowa to new heights.”
Feenstra shared the video, saying he was “Grateful to be endorsed by my good friend and a strong conservative voice for Iowa.” That prompted some news organizations, including KCCI-TV, to report that Ernst had endorsed Feenstra.
She actually did that last July, which we (and many other media) reported at the time. Ernst and Feenstra served together in the Iowa Senate as well as in Congress.
Journalists need to stay on top of this, in case the Feenstra campaign releases more old endorsements to imply growing momentum.
Feenstra has the most establishment support for the primary by far. As we mentioned last week, Terry Branstad is also backing him, as are dozens of current and former state legislators.
Feenstra, Lahn turn down Iowa PBS debate
The Iowa PBS program “Iowa Press” will host a debate on Tuesday, April 28. But only three of the five Republicans running for governor will be there: Andrews, Sherman, and Steen. Feenstra and Lahn declined to participate.
I can see why Feenstra declined the invitation. If you think you’re way ahead, you don’t want to risk a huge gaffe that changes the dynamic—especially since Feenstra isn’t a strong communicator.
It’s a risky strategy, though, because there is already a bad narrative about Feenstra dodging multi-candidate events. If you believe his internal poll, he’s not far above the 35 percent threshold he needs to win the GOP primary outright.
I find it bizarre that Lahn is skipping the debate. In a Facebook post last Thursday, he invited Feenstra to “a series of discussions across Iowa. No attacks, no smears. Just our competing ideas on how we make our state better.”
Clearly Lahn would benefit from framing the primary as a two-way race, but that’s not how anything works. Feenstra is not going to elevate Lahn just because Lahn (who is largely self-funding his campaign) is the only other contender able to run an aggressive paid media campaign.
Lahn isn’t well known. In his position, I would not turn down an opportunity to get the message out and generate clips to share on social media. I thought he did fine at the Moms for Liberty debate in late January.
On a related note, Iowa had a long tradition of three debates featuring the Republican and Democratic nominees for governor, but Kim Reynolds only agreed to one debate in 2022. So on Saturday, I asked this year’s Democratic candidate Rob Sand how many times he hopes to debate his Republican opponent. He said, “More than three.”
Steen blasts Feenstra for skipping debates
At a Monday morning press conference, Steen slammed Feenstra for skipping debates, saying it’s “irresponsible and reckless” and puts the GOP primary at risk.
He argued that when Feenstra tries to answer questions, “You can see he’s not ready. He’s not ready to lead day one. He’s not ready to take on Rob Sand.” Steen said Iowans deserve someone who will show up and clearly lay out what they stand for. “All I hear from Randy Feenstra are wandering responses that sound more like Rob Sand’s radical left ideology, rather than the conservative values Iowans hold so dear.”
I recorded Steen’s opening remarks and the Q&A:
I asked Steen how many times he would be willing to debate before the general election. His response: “as many times as Rob Sand wants to debate.” He said he’d love that opportunity.
Steen wants to expand Education Savings Accounts
At the same news conference, Steen said he would ensure that “independent, private, and Christian schools will be protected from reckless government overreach,” and promised to protect and expand Education Savings Accounts (better known as school vouchers).
As we mentioned last week, Steen sees this as an important wedge issue against Feenstra, who recently said schools should be required to take all students if they accept public funds.
Steen asserted Monday that Democrats and Feenstra “agree that government should encroach on the decisions of our independent, private, and Christian schools. It’s insanity at the highest level. In a Steen administration, our independent, private, and Christian schools will be protected from reckless government overreach.” He promised to “protect and expand ESAs and school choice across our state, no ifs, ands, or buts.”
When Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson asked whether the pledge to expand ESAs could apply to homeschooling families, Steen said, “I would love to provide the option for homeschool families, if they so choose.”
Steen says no to “online smut” and…Sharia law
Steen also said Monday that he would sign an executive order to protect kids from pornography, and promised to “ensure Sharia law is outright banned from our state.” I wanted to explain where this rhetoric was that coming from.
Several bills seeking to regulate social media platforms and require age verification for websites with adult content have stalled in the Iowa legislature. This policy is a priority for the social conservative group The FAMiLY Leader, which has endorsed Steen for governor.
He said he’d sign those executive orders “if necessary”—meaning if the legislature doesn’t pass an age-verification law for social media platforms. He said, “We must protect the most vulnerable from online smut, smut in our libraries, smut in our schools. And as your governor, that I will stop at nothing to make sure the innocence of our children are protected.”
The Sharia law remarks were a head-scratcher for a lot of people. “Simply put, I am denouncing Sharia law, and my commitment to Iowans is to ensure Sharia law is outright banned from our state, and in no way will gain even a small foothold in any governing body across the state of Iowa.” Needless to say, there is no prospect of this happening anywhere in Iowa.
Many commenters mocked Steen in response to a short video I posted. But battling Sharia law is becoming a big talking point for Republicans around the country. It’s a major issue in the Texas GOP primary for U.S. Senate. Liz Crampton and Jessica Piper reported on this for Politico in January, and Josh Kovensky wrote a good piece for Talking Points Memo a few days ago. A mosque in the Dallas area announced plans last year to build a residential community. Republicans reacted by trying to outdo each other on Islamophobia. (Never mind that a bunch of Muslims living near a mosque is not “Sharia law.”)
A couple of weeks ago, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a law “against the application of foreign and religious laws—including Sharia law.” I’ve seen GOP fundraising emails pledging to stop Sharia law. Republican strategists have apparently decided this is a good button to push to rile up their base.
Steve King weighs in—he’s worried
Former U.S. Representative Steve King, who lost his seat in Congress after Feenstra defeated him in the 2020 primary, weighed in on the governor’s race over the weekend. You can watch his long interview with Jacob Hall of The Iowa Standard on Facebook.
King didn’t make any formal endorsement, but he said he is strongly moving in the direction of Zach Lahn because of his vision for Iowa and willingness to take on monopolies in the agricultural sector. (King has been deeply involved in efforts to block the Summit Carbon Solutions CO2 pipeline.)
He expressed concern that four conservatives in the field are splitting the vote and could clear the way for Feenstra to win the primary. He’d like Lahn to pull the other candidates in.
King does not believe Feenstra could win the general election: “I’ve been all over the district and actually much of the state, and I’ve not yet met anybody that had the conviction that Randy Feenstra could beat Rob Sand.” He told a story he had previously shared on X:
I was the guest speaker at a Mahaska County Republican dinner last night [Thursday]. I was asked to handicap the five Republican candidates vying for the nomination for governor and the obligation to debate Democrat Rob Sand. I asked, “Who is the best candidate to debate Sand?” I heard “Sherman” then “Steen” then “Lahn.”
But Feenstra is touted as the front runner, so I asked flatly, “Did anybody say Feenstra?” The entire room instantly and spontaneously broke up in hilarious laughter!
Are Iowa Republicans really prepared to nominate a laughing stock for governor whose campaign is the equivalent of Joe Biden’s basement campaign?
I do hear a lot of anxiety among Republicans that Feenstra would lose in November. Which is ironic, because the front-runner promises in his new TV ad that “big government liberals will never win” when he’s governor.
Rob Sand’s first TV ad: “I’d say stealing is bad”
The Democratic candidate for governor launched his first TV ad last Wednesday. He delivers the script in the spot, which begins, “Call me old-fashioned, I’d say stealing is bad.” Sand touts his background prosecuting corrupt public officials as an assistant attorney general, and later uncovering misspent tax dollars as state auditor. He brings up the law Republicans passed in 2023, making it harder for his office to audit state agencies.
Sand also promises mandatory jail time for those who steal public funds—a policy he’s repeatedly asked the legislature to pass.
With no competition in the Democratic primary, Sand can run a general election strategy. We know Republicans often claim Democrats are soft on crime. This is a way for Sand to get out ahead of those attacks.
Sand’s outreach to independents
On Saturday morning I went to Sand’s campaign headquarters in Des Moines, one of sixteen locations where his team was sending canvassers out on a very chilly morning. He said they had more than 120 volunteers signed up around the state. According to his campaign, the staging sites were in Des Moines, Ames, Waterloo, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, Decorah, Mason City, Davenport, Indianola, Dubuque, Marshalltown, Greenfield, Sioux City, Fairfield, Clinton, and Grinnell.
The focus this weekend was reaching out to independent voters—another sign Sand is running a general election strategy already. He took some questions from me and a WHO-TV reporter.
Sand’s a big believer in face-to-face conversations in politics, not only to win elections but to build community and help people know their neighbors. He told us he wants volunteers to introduce people to the campaign and “the idea that not every campaign has to be about the two private clubs beating up on each other.”
Sand releases more details on cannabis legalization plan
On Monday (perfectly timed for 4/20), Sand released more details on his plan to legalize, tax, and regulate adult-use cannabis. He said Iowa should prioritize grow licenses for small and mid-size family farms, and also called for reversing the 2024 law that prohibited sales of some consumable hemp products.
He’s been talking about “treating cannabis like alcohol” since the first day of his campaign last May, but I hadn’t heard him focus on the 2024 law. From one of his social media posts: “Small businesses across Iowa invested millions to produce legal THC beverages only to have insiders pull the rug out from under them less than a year later - leaving them with products they can’t sell & no path forward. I say we treat it like alcohol: keeping money in Iowa & helping support small businesses.”
A news release summarized key points of his plan:
Support Iowa farmers by creating a new revenue stream and prioritizing grow licenses for small and mid-size family farms while responsibly managing the number of licenses issued statewide.
Reverse the prohibition on the sale of consumable hemp products.
Establish clear, responsible provisions for cannabis products, including:
A clear licensing process.
Limits on total THC content.
Age restrictions on purchases.
Regulations on cannabis product packaging to meet child-resistant packaging standards.
Limits on advertisements.
A ban on public consumption.
Create approximately 7,000 jobs and expand opportunities for small business owners across Iowa.
Josh Turek launches first TV ad
On Friday, Democratic Senate candidate Josh Turek announced his campaign’s first major ad buy on TV and streaming services. In the spot, called “Push,” he denounces President Donald Trump’s policies:
Working families are losing their health care because of Trump’s Medicaid cuts. And our farmers are hurting from his tariffs.
Iowans feel like they’re pushing uphill, and I know exactly what that feels like.
Because it’s working class families like mine paying the price for Trump’s war and Washington’s corruption.
Turek’s campaign often mention that he’s the only Senate candidate in Iowa who is from a working-class family. The viewer sees him pushing his wheelchair uphill.
Turek ends the ad with a promise: “I opposed their Medicaid cuts, abortion bans, and attacks on our rights, and I always will. I approve this message. In the Senate, I’ll take on Trump, and no one will push harder for change.”
Following up on Swalwell’s PAC donations in Iowa
Last week, U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell ended his campaign for governor of California and resigned from Congress after facing sexual misconduct allegations. I’m always looking for an Iowa angle on a national story, so I checked in with Iowa campaigns that had received donations from his Remedy PAC.
According to Federal Election Commission records, Swalwell’s PAC gave Zach Wahls’ campaign $500 in 2025. The Wahls campaign were ahead of me on this: they told me they had already donated those funds to House of Hope, a nonprofit serving single mothers and women aging out of foster care in Waterloo. (I independently confirmed that donation.)
I couldn’t find any other recent donations from Swalwell’s PAC to Iowa candidates, but FEC records indicate that the Remedy PAC made four donations to Christina Bohannan for Congress in 2022, totaling $6,000, and a $1,000 donation to the campaign in November 2024.
I reached out to Bohannan’s campaign several times to find out whether they planned to donate those funds to charity. I didn’t hear back.
1Q fundraising for Iowa’s U.S. Senate candidates
April 15 was the deadline for federal candidates to report on their fundraising and spending during the first quarter of 2026. (State candidates must file their next financial disclosures on May 19.) We spent several minutes on the fundraising, but that’s a challenging topic to cover on the radio. I’m linking to all of the FEC filings, so you can check out the numbers yourself.
We’ve noted that the Democratic primary for Senate is extremely competitive. Turek and Wahls raised almost exactly the same amount in the first quarter of this year. And it was a big number: $1.12 million. That’s a lot for a non-incumbent.
Both candidates raised the vast majority of their funds from individual donors. Turek received $64,000 from PACs, Wahls a little less than $30,000.
From January through March, Turek’s campaign spent about $763,000, and the Wahls campaign about $800,000. Wahls leads in cash on hand ($1.06 million to $757,000), but his campaign also has more money that can’t be spent until after the June 2 primary.
As we’ve mentioned, Turek is benefiting from much more outside spending by VoteVets (now up to $4.5 million).
On the Republican side, Representative Ashley Hinson raised more than $2.3 million during the first quarter and reported more than $6.5 million in the bank. Her campaign did well on all fronts, bringing in just under $1.5 million from individuals, about $338,000 from PACs, and about $547,000 in transfers from other committees. I was a little surprised to see she spent more than $1 million during the quarter, since she hasn’t been running TV ads, to my knowledge. But Hinson has always had a fairly high burn rate.
Her GOP primary rival, former State senator Jim Carlin, was far behind. He ran a shoestring operation against Senator Chuck Grassley in 2022 and is doing the same thing again. The $46,700 Carlin raised during the first quarter included a $37,700 loan from the candidate and just $8,220 from individual donors. Carlin had less than $15,000 in the bank as of March 31.
Libertarian candidate Thomas Laehn raised and spent a little more than $4,000 and ended the quarter with around $5,500 cash on hand.
FEC reports for Senate candidates:
1Q fundraising in the first Congressional district
Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan out-raised GOP incumbent Mariannette Miller-Meeks again. She was among five Democratic challengers in targeted House districts whose campaigns brought in $2 million during the first quarter.
That’s a very large number. Bohannan raised about $1.3 million from individuals, $107,000 from PACs, and about $672K from leadership committees—a sign Democratic leaders think this is one of their best pickup opportunities.
Miller-Meeks raised about $647,000 from individuals. That’s a lot for her, but only around half of what Bohannan took in. The incumbent also received about $490,500 from PACs and $332,000 in transfers. Total receipts were around $1.49 million.
Miller-Meeks’ campaign spent more than Bohannan’s during the first quarter. She still has a cash on hand advantage, but not by much: about $4.3 million to $4 million.
While we were on the air, I forgot to mention the two long-shot candidates in this district. Democrat Travis Terrell reported raising about $5,300, including a $2,000 donation from the campaign committee of Ryan Melton (the former candidate in Iowa’s fourth district). He ended the quarter with about $5,277 in the bank.
Republican David Pautsch raised a total of $9,025, of which $8,500 came from the candidate himself. He only has a little more than $11,000 cash on hand. Worth remembering, though: Pautsch spent very little during the 2024 primary campaign but managed to receive about 44 percent of the vote against Miller-Meeks.
FEC filings:
1Q fundraising in the second Congressional district
State Representative Lindsay James leads the three-way Democratic money race. Her campaign raised just under $288,000, mostly from individuals. A combination of labor and political PACs also donated $19,800. After spending around $154,000, James’ campaign ended the quarter with about $434,000 cash on hand.
Clint Twedt-Ball raised just under $132,000, all from individuals. But he spent $126,000, almost as much as he raised. Going into the home stretch of the primary campaign, he has far less money in the bank (nearly $155,000).
Kathy Dolter is far behind. Her campaign raised about $8,000, spent $10,000, and has only around $2,500 cash on hand, plus some unpaid bills.
The Republican race is lopsided. The front-runner, former State Representative Joe Mitchell, raised more than $506,000 from individuals, plus $119,000 from PACs. (Although Mitchell isn’t taking corporate PAC money, some trade associations joined the many Republican committees in supporting his campaign.
Mitchell’s burn rate is quite high; he spent about $291,000, nearly half of the $627,000 he raised during the first quarter. Even so, his campaign had around $878,000 cash on hand as of March 31.
The other GOP candidate, State Senator Charlie McClintock, raised only $830.76 and has less than $15,000 cash on hand.
Independent candidate Dave Bushaw spent more than he raised during the quarter and had a little more than $3,100 in the bank as of March 31.
FEC filings:
Lindsay James (D)
Clint Twedt-Ball (D)
Kathy Dolter (D)
Joe Mitchell (R)
Dave Bushaw (independent)
1Q fundraising in the third Congressional district
In Iowa’s other toss-up U.S. House race, Democratic State Senator Sarah Trone Garriott outraised the incumbent, Representative Zach Nunn.
During the first quarter of 2026, Trone Garriott raised about $1.69 million. More than $1.5 million of those receipts came from individuals and just under $176,000 from PACs. Over the same three months, Nunn’s campaign received some $1.27 million. But only $175,800 came from individual donors, $336,500 from PACs, and nearly $748,000 in transfers from other committees.
Thanks to PACs and transfers, Nunn still leads in cash on hand (about $3.04 million to Trone Garriott’s $2.19 million). He doesn’t have nearly as large a donor base, though.
FEC filings:
Zach Nunn (R)
1Q fundraising in the fourth Congressional district
Candidates in the fourth district, which includes KHOI’s listening area, raised far less. IA-04 a safe seat for Republicans, and you can see it in the fundraising.
Chris McGowan, the only candidate on the Republican primary ballot, took his foot off the gas this year. He raised about $118,000 of which $52,000 came from PACs. After spending around $70,000, McGowan’s campaign ended the quarter with around $380,000 in the bank.
In the three-way Democratic primary, former State Representative Dave Dawson leads in fundraising. He raised just under $35,000, spent $20,500, and ended the quarter with about $44,000 cash on hand. He’ll be able to do more mailings or advertising before the primary.
Ashley WolfTornabane raised just under $8,900, which included a $2,000 donation from Ryan Melton’s campaign committee. She spent around $4,900 and has around $5,400 on hand.
Stephanie Steiner didn’t file an FEC report.
FEC filings:
Chris McGowan (R)
Dave Dawson (D)
Miller-Meeks rented apartment from PhRMA lobbyists
We didn’t have time to get to this on last week’s show, but I wanted to flag Zachary Oren Smith’s excellent scoop for Iowa Starting Line: Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks used about $26,000 from her Congressional office budget to rent an apartment from lobbyists who work for the pharmaceutical industry’s trade group PhRMA.
The arrangement was legal but raises questions about Miller-Meeks’ judgment because she sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health and chairs the Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Health.
Zachary Oren Smith wasn’t able to obtain a copy of the lease. Miller-Meeks no longer lives in that apartment, and her campaign and one of the lobbyists both claim they never communicated with her about their work for the pharmaceutical industry while she was a tenant.
I wasn’t aware that the House of Representatives changed their rules in 2023 to allow members to use part of their office budgets to subsidize their housing. That seems reasonable to me for members who aren’t wealthy—though I would have thought Miller-Meeks could afford to cover her own rent. And while I understand why a housing stipend makes sense for some members of Congress, I can’t think of any good reason for any elected official to rent from a lobbyist.
You can bet that Bohannan and/or outside groups will bring up this arrangement during the campaign, especially since Miller-Meeks has received lots of campaign contributions from PhRMA-connected donors.
According to Iowa Starting Line, Ashley Hinson and Zach Nunn used part of their office budget to cover housing costs in 2023, but Randy Feenstra did not.
Michael Bridgford running as independent in IA-01
Last Thursday, Michael Bridgford announced he’s running for Congress as an independent. He’s a self-employed financial adviser, and a husband and father of two, who grew up on a seventh-generation family farm just across the river in Illinois. He’s lived in other parts of the country, but came back to the Quad Cities area.
Bridgford told me he’s been registered as a Democrat and as a Republican at various times, in order to participate in Iowa primaries.
Why run as an independent? He feels normal folks need to see that the current system isn’t working. Congress is so closely divided that just a few independents could drive policy in a more moderate direction. They could elect a speaker who is not from the extreme wing of either party, and push for action on issues where large majorities of Americans agree.
Bridgford told me he has met with former Senator Joe Manchin, who is supportive of what he’s doing. You can learn more about him here:
Libertarians not fielding U.S. House candidates in Iowa
I’m only aware of two independents running for Congress in Iowa this year: Bridgford and Dave Bushaw in IA-02.
It looks like there won’t be any third-party candidates. Nicholas Gluba (who ran for Congress in IA-01 in 2024 but did not qualify for the ballot) told me on Saturday that the Libertarian Party does not plan to field candidates in any of Iowa’s U.S. House districts. They are focusing on two races: Thomas Laehn for Senate and Gluba for governor.
In theory, some other independent candidate could file. But it’s a lot of work to collect enough signatures for a Congressional campaign. Under a law Republicans enacted last year, independent and third-party candidates now must file their nominating papers by the day of the primary election (June 2 this year). They used to have until late August to file. I question whether that early filing deadline is constitutional, but so far, no one has challenged it.
I believe Republican candidates benefit most from not having Libertarian competition in the Congressional races.
Medication abortion bill moving again
We only had time for one legislative story this week. The last time we mentioned this year’s proposal to restrict abortion medications, the bill was stalled in the House. But it started moving again last week. I attended both the subcommittee and full committee meetings, and posted the videos on Bleeding Heartland’s YouTube channel (see here and here).
House File 2563 doesn’t belong in the Appropriations Committee (since it’s not related to spending), but House Speaker Pat Grassley moved it there to keep the bill alive after the second “funnel” deadline. The floor manager, State Representative Devon Wood, plans to run an amendment to remove language that would have required physicians to provide information about so-called “abortion reversals.” Representatives of the medical community strongly opposed that provision, since abortion reversals are not an evidence-based practice. In effect, the bill would have required physicians to lie to patients.
There are still problematic provisions: telemedicine would be banned for abortion medications, and there would be new reporting requirements for health care providers that could force them to violate the federal privacy law known as HIPAA.
Democrats uniformly voted against the bill in the Appropriations Committee and will do so if it comes to the floor.
The bill isn’t on the House debate calendar yet. They are running out of time. One possible roadblock is State Representative Zach Dieken, who believes abortion should be illegal in all circumstances. He filed an amendment to the bill with “personhood” language; under his proposal, performing an abortion in Iowa would become a class A felony. A lot of House Republicans don’t want to have to vote up or down on a total abortion ban.
Last week, Dieken criticized the medication abortion bill in a social media post, calling it a “fundraiser for pro life groups” that “does nothing to prevent children from being murdered by their mothers.” He’s not seeking re-election, so leaders don’t have a lot of leverage to pressure him to withdraw his amendment.
If the House does approve the bill, it’s not clear whether the Senate would take it up. Senate Judiciary Committee chair Jason Schultz didn’t bring the companion bill up in his committee. He told reporters that he only wanted to target what he called the black market in mail-order pills from out of state. He isn’t interested in new regulations on in-state health care providers.
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading or listening!
Thanks for the exhaustive profile of all the races. It must be exhausting for you to put this together so regularly.
The thing that stands out for me regarding Republican candidates is how they never want to have any daylight between them and Trump. I guess those who are married to fascism are consigned to that, ignoring how deeply unpopular Trump is becoming.
Thank you for the broadcast. It seems there is a billboard, I noticed that a Trump backed Last name of Corley, is running against, Corson. I bet this man will be using the same poltics about sharia law, that three candidates in Oklahoma are using, plus they are using, No Kings is anti American. I can’t believe that people buy into this most delusional way of trying to win elections. If you live in Iowa please Iowan’s subscribe to KHOI capital week with Laura Belin.