Iowa campaigns for Congress, Senate, governor; Reynolds' low poll numbers
July 28 edition of "KHOI's Capitol Week"
I had some quality time in Winterset this weekend with other members of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. If you haven’t been there for a while (or ever), it’s worth a visit. The Madison County courthouse is gorgeous:
We spent a few hours at the nature center in Pammel State Park on Saturday morning. It was too hot to go for a hike, but I enjoyed this exhibit showing the area’s unusual topography. The limestone “backbone” supports oak savannas, including some trees that are more than 300 years old.
I forgot to take a picture at the Iowa Quilt Museum on the main square. On Saturday afternoon, we were treated to a screening of the documentary “Storm Lake” in The Iowa Theater. They serve popcorn with real butter and screen classic movies every “Throwback Thursday” (this week it’s “Singin’ in the Rain”), along with new releases on other nights. Marianne Fons spearheaded the restoration of the theater and shared some of that history with us.
The great David Thoreson snapped a photo of me outside the theater with fellow Iowa Writers’ Collaborative columnists Art Cullen, Doug Burns, and Chip Albright.
Marianne organized a reception at The Winterset Livery after the screening, catered by The Petite Cafe. The food was fabulous.
As much as I enjoyed the break over the weekend, it was back to the grindstone on Monday. The audio file from the July 28 edition of “KHOI Capitol Week” is at the top of this post. (You can also subscribe to the show on podcast platforms, and find the archive on KHOI’s website.)
For those who prefer a written summary, here’s what Spencer Dirks and I covered on Monday night’s show. If your email provider truncates this post, you can read it without interruption at this link.
Trump administration unfreezes K-12 education funds
Last week, we reported that the Trump administration was withholding $6.8 billion in K-12 education funding for states, which Congress approved in March. On Friday, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it would release those funds.
I believe they reversed course mainly because 24 states had sued and were likely to succeed in arguing it was both illegal and unconstitutional for the executive branch to refuse to spend money appropriated by Congress. Iowa didn’t join this lawsuit, even though millions of dollars intended for our state’s school districts were at stake.
I still can’t get a straight answer from the Iowa Department of Education or the governor’s office on how much federal funding was being held up, or how it broke down for various programs (after school, English language learners, adult education, and so on). I have seen estimates in the $40 million range, which would be around 12 percent of total federal education funding for Iowa.
I have been trying to find out whether any Iowa official interceded to try to get the funds to schools. Haven’t gotten an answer yet. I know Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst did not sign a letter some of their Republican colleagues sent to President Donald Trump’s budget director demanding that K-12 funding be released. The state Department of Education told me last week that they were “closely monitoring” the situation and have recommended that school districts “prioritize the use of any prior year unexpended funds and consider taking advantage of transfer flexibilities allowed between certain federal funds as we learn more about the FFY 2025 allocations.”
U.S. House goes home early to avoid Epstein files votes
The U.S. House of Representatives added to its incredibly long summer break last week, as leaders sought to avoid more votes on whether to force the release of files related to the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein for sex trafficking. They won’t be back to work until September 2 (the day after Labor Day).
Some House Republicans are feeling the pressure as Democrats continue to press for a floor vote to release the Epstein files. KCCI-TV was first to report that the Democratic National Committee is now running digital ads targeting U.S. Representatives Ashley Hinson (IA-02) and Zach Nunn (IA-03), urging viewers to tell them to demand the files’ release. I was intrigued that the ads target Nunn and Hinson, rather than the usual pairing of Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-01). Hinson is the most likely GOP nominee for U.S. Senate here, if Ernst doesn’t seek a third term.
Although many are convinced the furor over the Epstein files won’t blow over, I believe people have short attention spans. By September, the White House hair-splitting and deflection may pacify most of the MAGA base, and House Republicans will be less worried about the public pressure over this issue.
On the other hand, the story could blow up further if we learn more in August about how Trump was named in the Epstein files, and especially if the Justice Department cuts some sweetheart deal with Epstein’s co-conspirator in sex trafficking, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Senate may not go home on schedule
The U.S. Senate is scheduled to start its month-long break this coming Thursday, but Trump wants senators to keep working in August so they can confirm more of his pending nominees. Some senators also want to vote on a few of the appropriations bills.
I wanted to flag briefly that although Republicans have long demanded “regular order” on the budget, the GOP-controlled Congress is pretty far behind schedule on the process. At most the Senate might approve a package of four appropriations bills (out of twelve) before the summer recess.
Best-case scenario: we’re looking at a big continuing spending bill in late September. I wouldn’t bet against a partial government shutdown, though, after Republicans cut previously approved funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting on party-line votes.
Side note: The appropriations bills pending in the Senate contain dozens of earmarks for projects and programs. None of that funding will go to Iowa, because Senators Grassley and Ernst haven’t participated in the earmarks process for many years.
In the House, Representatives Miller-Meeks, Hinson, and Nunn all submit earmarks requests every year. But as I’ve previously reported at Bleeding Heartland, Randy Feenstra (IA-04) has never done so.
Republican Ryan Rhodes running in IA-04
We spent a large chunk of the show on 2026 campaign news. Ryan Rhodes of Ames became the fourth Republican to launch a campaign for Congress in the deep-red fourth Congressional district. He ran for the Iowa House in a heavily Democratic district in 2008. He is best known as the founder of the Iowa Tea Party during Barack Obama’s presidency. More recently, he has been the CEO of the conservative social media platform Parler.
According to Iowa Public Radio, Rhodes stepped down as CEO earlier this year “to concentrate on his campaign. He still serves on the board.”
The crowded GOP field in IA-04 already includes Siouxland Chamber of Commerce leader Chris McGowan, outgoing House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl, and Humboldt County farmer Kyle Larsen. Iowa Public Radio quoted Rhodes as saying he “would be proud” to have Trump’s endorsement, “but I’m going to have to do a lot of work to earn it.” He added, “I’m a proud MAGA Republican and I think we’ve got to go and give ammo to really help Trump and have his back, especially when we look at a broken immigration system.”
I have no clue whether Trump plans to intervene in any of Iowa’s 2024 primaries. If he does, it would be a game-changer, and Rhodes would be better positioned than Windschitl (who backed Ron DeSantis for president) or McGowan (who didn’t endorse before the 2024 caucuses).
Democrat Stephanie Steiner running in IA-04
Stephanie Steiner recently became the second Democrat to launch a campaign for Congress in the fourth district. I interviewed her on Monday and shared some highlights on the show.
A mom of seven and a retired women’s health nurse, Steiner lives in O’Brien County in heavily Republican northwest Iowa. She’s originally from Alabama, but her family moved around a lot because of her father’s work, related to hog confinements. They lived in several states and settled in northwest Iowa when she was a teenager. She told me she fell in love with this state.
Steiner is not put off by the long odds of running in this deep-red district. Despite having her first child at age 15, and four kids by age 21, she was able to get her GED and put herself through nursing school. Not many women can overcome those odds, she told me.
As for why she’s running for Congress, she said things are worse than she expected after the 2024 election. She’s strongly motivated to work toward universal health care, in part because of a family tragedy. Her former husband (the father of her three youngest children) passed away in 2019 following difficulty in securing health insurance coverage. He earned too much qualify for Medicaid and couldn’t afford the medications for his chronic condition (COPD). The last six months of his life, they jumped through hoops trying to get him some kind of coverage. They finally got him signed up for a policy through the Affordable Care Act exchange, but he passed away weeks before coverage started. “It didn’t have to happen,” she told me.
Steiner described the Republican budget reconciliation bill as the “one big murder bill,” because it is going to kick an estimated 93,000 Iowans off health care. She’s new to political activism, but felt compelled to step up. She wants to advocate for health care, public education, reproductive rights and medical privacy. LGBTQ equality is also important to her, as members of her own family are part of the LGBTQ community. She told me, “People have a right to be who they are and to express who they are” and have civil rights and human rights.
You can watch my whole conversation with Steiner here.
The other Democrat actively campaigning in IA-04 is Ashley WolfTornabane. I wouldn’t be surprised to see more candidates join the field later this year.
Democrat Clint Twedt-Ball running in IA-02
A second Democratic candidate kicked off his campaign last week in the second Congressional district, covering most of northeast Iowa. A United Methodist pastor by training, Clint Twedt-Ball served a church in Cedar Rapids but said he felt like he was being called to work more with low-income and marginalized communities. So he and his brother co-founded Matthew 25, a faith-based nonprofit, in the mid-2000s.
They became very active in disaster relief following the massive flood that hit Cedar Rapids in 2008. The group has also worked on making local food available in food deserts, neighborhood revitalization, affordable housing, and after school programs.
I interviewed Twedt-Ball on Monday and summarized some of what he told me on the show. You can watch our whole interview here:
Matthew 25 has grown to employ around 40 people. Among other things, the organization runs a grocery store and Iowa’s only “pay it forward” cafe. Twedt-Ball left the nonprofit this month and is campaigning for Congress full time.
He said didn’t start thinking about running for Congress until after the 2024 election. He drove through the district talking to people in April and May.
Twedt-Ball grew up in a small town and would like to focus on small-town and main street revitalization. He also advocates for more affordable basic human needs (food, housing, health care), and safety net programs like Medicare and Social Security.
I asked him about the stereotype that politically active pastors are usually conservative. Twedt-Ball told me that’s a “fairly recent phenomenon.” Going back further than 40-50 years, he said, United Methodists helped get unions going, 40-hour work week.
I’ve been asking all the Congressional candidates for their pitch to voters who like all Democrats in their primary. (Retired dean of nursing Kathy Dolter is already campaigning in IA-02, and State Representative Lindsay James is seriously considering the race.) Twedt-Ball said what differentiates him is “I have been on the ground for the last 20 years working with people helping to solve real problems.” Having led a non-profit, he understands what it takes to make payroll, run a restaurant and grocery store, and so on. He argued that Matthew 25 pulls together people from every party to solve people’s basic problems.
I anticipate a positive campaign in the Democratic primary, with no attack ads.
White House wants Ernst to seek re-election
There’s been a lot of speculation about Ernst’s future plans and Hinson’s possible candidacy for Senate in 2026. I wanted to flag a recent story in Politico, which reported that White House officials including Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles met privately with Ernst and “implored” her to run for Senate again.
Almost on a weekly basis, readers ask me whether Trump might fire Pete Hegseth and name Ernst as secretary of defense. I don’t see that happening, even though Hegseth continues make news in a negative way.
Wahls rolls out endorsements, snags “JoshTurek” domain
State Senator Zach Wahls rolled out dozens of endorsements for his U.S. Senate campaign last week, led by former U.S. Representative Dave Loebsack and former Lieutenant Governor Patty Judge. There are also several current state legislators, and lots of former legislators and local government officials. You can see the whole list here.
I don’t expect endorsements to be very impactful in the Democratic primary, which will probably be a five-way race between Wahls, Nathan Sage, J.D. Scholten, Jackie Norris, and Josh Turek (the last two have not announced yet but are expected to run).
2026 will be a good year to be a Democratic state convention delegate. If no one gets at least 35 percent of the vote in the June primary, the convention delegates will select the party’s Senate nominee.
I saw the first sign of hardball in the Democratic primary last week. Someone mentioned to me that the JoshTurek.com domain was redirecting to Wahls’ campaign website. When I checked again on Sunday, the domain was “parked” and available for purchase. (The Wahls campaign didn’t respond to my inquiry about this.)
Free advice to anyone who may run for any office someday: go ahead and reserve the domain for your name so no one else can grab it.
Wahls and Sage attend Iowa Farmers Union event
While I was in Winterset on Saturday, the Iowa Farmers Union was holding its big summer potluck. Robin Opsahl covered the event for Iowa Capital Dispatch, and reported highlights from remarks by Wahls and Sage.
Wahls called for Democrats to “extend an open hand” to Republican or independent voters who are frustrated with incumbents.
“Because I will tell you, the agenda that this administration is putting forward, and that Senator Ernst has been a complete rubber stamp for, it is uniquely bad for a state like Iowa, right?” Wahls said. “… But when you talk about things like the Medicaid cuts, the tariffs, the fact that you are now talking about this mass deportation scheme, you almost could not design a worse agenda for our state. And fundamentally, the job of being a U.S. senator is to say, you’re going to have your party politics — they always have to come second serving your constituents.”
Sage made his pitch as someone from a different kind of background:
“I’m not your run-of-the-mill politician,” Sage said. “I don’t have one-liners. I’m not going to say things just to say them, I’m not going to talk about political rhetoric, I’m not going to joke around about things that are not funny to a lot of people. I’m here to fight. I fought in Iraq three fun-filled times. I stood up and did that. And right now, what I feel like, we have a lot of people in this world that need somebody to fight for them. They need somebody to look up and go, ‘This guy’s willing to do it.’ That’s what I’m trying to do.”
Randy Feenstra is definitely running for governor
I made the editorial decision to start referring to Randy Feenstra as a Republican candidate for governor. Technically, he is still “exploring,” but he’s raising lots of money, spending heavily on tv ads, and rolling up endorsements. I don’t know why he hasn’t made it official yet, because his own social media accounts leave no doubt he is running.
His Facebook page has a big “Randy Feenstra Governor” banner.
The end of his bio on X/Twitter says “Republican for Governor of Iowa.”
Just last week, Feenstra created an account on Trump’s Truth Social platform that is literally called “Randy Feenstra for Governor.”
Brad Sherman wins sign war on RAGBRAI
One Republican candidate for governor got their name in front of ten of thousands of bicyclists last week—and it wasn’t Feenstra.
Former State Reprepresentatve Brad Sherman’s campaign worked hard to get yard signs in place across the northern Iowa RAGBRAI route. A friend who rode RAGBRAI confirmed there were tons of Sherman signs. She couldn’t recall seeing so many political signs for one candidate on the ride before.
The Sherman campaign shared a bunch of photos on Facebook, including this one:
Pipeline issue could be important in GOP primary
The Republican primary for governor is shaping up to be a four-way race between Feenstra, Sherman, State Representative Eddie Andrews, and State Senator Mike Bousselot (officially still exploring the race).
I wanted to let listeners know about an interesting piece Professor Matthew Thornburg wrote for Bleeding Heartland. He argued, “The use of eminent domain to build carbon capture pipelines is a uniquely controversial issue in Iowa politics.”
Thornburg looked at Feenstra’s vote share in last year’s IA-04 primary and general elections, comparing precincts in the path of the proposed Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline with non-pipeline precincts. He concluded, “Feenstra’s perceived indifference on the CO2 pipeline offers an opening for rivals in the upcoming Republican primary for governor.” I recommend reading the whole post.
Incidentally, my bicycle-riding friend saw a lot of signs opposing carbon pipelines along the RAGBRAI route.
Iowa Republican leaders target Rob Sand
State Auditor Rob Sand was the talk of the town at last Friday’s big Republican fundraiser in Clear Lake. For example, Iowa GOP state chair Jeff Kaufmann accused Sand of “running away from his left-wing views” and warned the audience, “He will unravel everything, do not be drug in by his hypocritical social media crap.”
We’ve discussed how Sand is basically running a general election campaign, appealing mostly to the middle rather than to the Democratic base. He does have a much larger social media following than any of the prospective GOP candidates for governor. Top Republicans seem worried.
You can read quotes from some of the speakers in coverage from the Des Moines Register and Cedar Rapids Gazette. I was most intrigued by this part of Maya Marchel Hoff’s story, quoting former Governor Terry Branstad.
“He (Sand) worked for some of the most radical liberal Democrats that ran in our state. So that'll tell you, regardless of what he's saying right now, that'll tell you where he will lead the state,” Branstad said. “This election will not be easy, and I'm concerned that if Republicans don't stick together and support the candidates that win the primary, we could not only lose the governorship. We could lose a bunch of the state offices and even control of the legislature with as big a margin as we have. Don't take it for granted.”
Branstad is believed to be helping Bousselot raise money for his upcoming campaign. I perceive he and other Republicans are worried that many of the MAGA voters, the people newer to the party who were activated by Trump, will stay home in 2026 if they don’t like the GOP nominees for governor, Senate, and other offices.
Sand holds campaign events around the state
A Sand campaign staffer provided this statement about the remarks at the GOP fundraiser: “Iowa’s insiders are scared they're losing their grip on power, so they're lying about what Rob will do to distract from what they've done: put Iowa 49th for economic growth, 48th for personal income growth, and No. 1 for cancer growth — while they were busy passing laws to stop Rob’s oversight as state auditor.”
Those are common themes for Sand as he talks about the state’s poor record in economic development, health care, and other issues in stops around the state. He was in Council Bluffs last Tuesday for a town hall, and he rode part of RAGBRAI one day, making stops in Cedar Falls and at a Waterloo hospital.
Stauch calls for regulations to improve water quality
The other Democratic candidate for governor, Julie Stauch, has been holding information sessions around the state. She wrote in a recent guest column for the Cedar Rapids Gazette, “The need for clean water has come up in every location.” She’s proposing new regulations to limit pollution coming from agriculture.
I don’t often see this level of policy detail this early in a campaign. Anecdotally, I can say that the Democrats I know who are supporting Stauch are very concerned about water quality. They feel Sand isn’t talking enough about Iowa’s dirty water and won’t address its root causes (pollution from conventional agriculture).
Stauch names the problem: “In Iowa our water is polluted with excess manure and commercial fertilizer spread on fields is washed through and over the soil to nearby rivers and streams. Nutrient pollution is the result, with nitrate in our drinking water accompanied by phosphorus in our lakes, degrading our quality of life. Our streams are largely unprotected by conservation efforts. Tile drainage systems that underlie many of our farm fields help nitrate pollute our streams.”
Her proposed solutions include restoring local zoning authority over livestock confinements, a moratorium on new confinements, stronger regulations on fertilizer application and manure management, and penalizing farmers who ignore conservation recommendations.
News from the Iowa Senate district 1 special election
Voters in Iowa Senate district 1, covering most of Sioux City, will elect a new state senator on August 26. The Republican nominee, Christopher Prosch, has released a 30-second digital ad. I would guess it will be on TV soon but I couldn’t find any evidence of a TV ad buy yet.
Prosch promised to continue the late Senator Rocky De Witt’s legacy by “defending the Second Amendment,” “protecting girls’ sports,” improving Iowa schools, “cracking down on illegal immigration,” and keeping families safe.
I expect Republicans to roll out at least one negative ad about the Democratic candidate before the election.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is investing in Catelin Drey’s campaign. They to keep the string of Democratic overperformances in special elections going.
Both candidates have posted on social media that they are knocking lots of doors ahead of the August 26 special election. Drey said in a video that the “vibes on the doors” are really good. The most common thing she is hearing is that people are tired of policies that disproportionately hurt those in the working class and help those at the top.
Early voting in person starts August 6. People can request absentee ballots now; absentee ballot request forms have to reach the Woodbury County auditor by 5 pm on August 11. If you have any travel plans for August, it might be advisable to vote in person, since the auditor has to receive completed mailed ballots by 8 pm on election day, August 26.
Reynolds remains most unpopular governor in the country
We didn’t have time for this story last week, but I wanted to make sure listeners knew that Morning Consult measures approval ratings for all 50 governors every three months. The new set of polls they released in July showed Iowa’s Governor Kim Reynolds at the bottom of the list for the sixth straight quarter.
According to Morning Consult, only 42 percent of Iowans surveyed approve of Reynolds’ work, while 49 percent disapprove. She’s the only governor with a net negative approval rating, and it’s more negative now than it was in April.
Reynolds’ numbers have long been low in Morning Consult, so I wonder if there is a bit of a “house effect” with their surveys. But Spencer and I agree that the governor has a very divisive leadership style, compared to some of her peers.
Many Republicans may tell pollsters they disapprove of Reynolds, either because she supported Ron DeSantis (not Trump) before the Iowa caucuses, or because she vetoed the eminent domain bill in June.
It’s also worth noting that Iowa’s economic performance is below average, with slower employment growth and wage growth than in most other states.
Governor expects time will heal anger over pipeline bill veto
Radio Iowa reported earlier this month on comments Reynolds made to reporters about her veto of that eminent domain bill. She acknowledged “passionate feelings on both sides” of the CO2 pipeline issue but asserted that “time and separation does a lot of good,” and that she and Republican legislators “have the same goal,” which is “serving Iowans.”
I don’t think GOP lawmakers are going to kill all of the governor’s priorities. State Representative Bobby Kaufmann is already walking back some of his comments now that he hopes to become the next House majority leader. I do think that some of her more controversial goals (like the energy bill she proposed this year) are not going to pass.
Iowa House Judiciary Committee chair Steven Holt shared the Radio Iowa story on his Facebook page, adding his comments: “Wrong. And most unfortunately, we do not share the same goals. Some of us know who we work for. Some do not.”
My reporting on Iowa’s new anti-SLAPP law
We had a couple of minute to discuss my deep dive on why the Iowa Senate finally approved an anti-SLAPP law, which makes it easier for people to defend themselves against lawsuits related to their First Amendment rights.
I wanted to highlight how this law is important not only for journalists and media organizations, but also for anyone speaking out on a matter of public concern. Across the board, progressive and conservative organizations have advocated for these laws.
I am fascinated by this kind of story, when a unanimous vote in the legislature is deceiving, because it obscures the years of hard work to get the bill to the floor. The Iowa House approved versions of the anti-SLAPP bill four times, only to have it die in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Why did it pass this year? For one thing, State Senator Brad Zaun lost his re-election bid, so he wasn’t in charge of the Judiciary Committee. The new chair, Jason Schultz, represents Carroll County, where a frivolous lawsuit ruined the finances of the Carroll Times Herald newspaper.
The CO2 pipeline controversy was also important, because Summit Carbon Solutions sent heavy-handed “cease and desist” letters last year to outspoken critics of their project.
So this story illustrates how elections can have consequences beyond just which party controls a legislative chamber. You can read my whole piece here.
Thanks so much for reading or listening! We’ll be back next week.
There’s enough insightful, informative, incisive content included here to be divided into at least five different major stories. And, ideally that will eventually happen. I really don’t know how many Heather Cox Richardson quality writers I can keep up with. That’s a very nice challenge. Having the opportunity of reading you and this pantheon of IWC writers is making legacy media superfluous. Thank goodness. Substack IWC writers have made idle minds and hands obsolete.
Laura you do some fantastic political reporting. You and Lisa Dejesdargins are outstanding in the work you do. Thankyou.