New candidates, Dems weigh caucus future, a high-stakes special election

Aug. 25 edition of "KHOI's Capitol Week"

Republican Adam Steen and Democrat Lindsay James (photos from their political Facebook pages)

A quick heads up: Arnie Arnesen interviewed me last week to talk about Iowa’s 2026 races for governor and Senate. Here’s the link to listen.

On Wednesday morning, August 27, Zachary Oren Smith of Iowa Starting Line and I plan to jointly interview Caitlin Drey, the Democratic candidate in today’s special Iowa Senate election. He’ll distribute that conversation through the Cornhole Champions feed, and I’ll share it with all of you as well.

A friend is hosting an event for me in Cedar Rapids on Thursday, September 11 (late afternoon/early evening). Although this is a fundraiser to support my work, no donations are required to attend. All are welcome to hear me talk about my reporting journey and take questions about upcoming elections, the state legislature, state government, or anything else about Iowa politics. Shoot me an email if you’d like to attend, and I’ll share further details.

On to the show! Spencer Dirks and I agree that this summer seems very busy for an “off year” in Iowa politics. The audio file for the August 25 edition of “KHOI’s Capitol Week” is at the top of this post. Here’s the written recap, for those who would rather read than listen. If your email provider truncates this post, you can read it without interruption at this link.

Adam Steen is running for governor

Another Republican entered the crowded field for governor last week. If you’ve heard of Adam Steen, it’s probably because Governor Kim Reynolds appointed him Director of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services. He stepped down from that role last week.

Steen is a credentialed minister and held his first campaign event at a church. He’s not subtle about appealing for the social conservative wing of the Republican base. At his kickoff event, he described himself this way: “I am the faith guy. I am a Jesus guy. I am the Make America Great Again guy. I am a commonsense policy, America First, People First guy.”

Reynolds has said she won’t endorse in the GOP primary, but Steen is trying to make himself out to be her successor. He called her “the greatest governor in the history of Iowa” and said he wants to carry on that legacy.

Steen was part of the business world before joining the Reynolds administration. Before that, he was a relief pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies and a minor league team in 2002.

The Department of Administrative Services manages the state capitol complex, and Steen bragged at his campaign launch, “I’m the guy that stood in front of the Satanists,” referring to his refusal to let the Satanic Temple of Iowa hold a holiday event at the capitol. He also said he had denied a request for a family-friendly drag show, adding, “You didn’t hear about it, because I risked being sued again. But I don’t care, because I’ll never stop fighting for our children.”

I hadn’t heard about the drag show, but as a lawyer’s daughter my ears perked up at Steen’s comments about blocking the events. It sounded like he was bragging that as leader of a state agency, he made decisions because of his religious convictions. That could be very problematic if the state has to defend his actions in court.

The Satanic Temple of Iowa has filed a civil rights complaint about the state’s refusal to let them use the capitol space. That is often a precursor to filing a lawsuit. The governor’s office has withheld records related to the decision to cancel the Satanic Temple event, prompting a separate lawsuit citing the open records law.

I sought comment from the ACLU of Iowa, which is representing the Satanic Temple in the civil rights complaint and Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers in the open records lawsuit. The ACLU’s legal director Rita Bettis Austen told me:

Steen's comments are no doubt relevant to the illegal discrimination we allege in our complaint, and we look forward to putting all relevant evidence before the fact-finder, as well as to asking Director Steen about them more as part of the civil discovery process, at the appropriate time.

The civil rights complaint filed demonstrates that our clients had shown that their planned holiday celebration would be family-friendly and appropriate for children, and there was never any legitimate basis to conclude otherwise. [...]

Members of The Satanic Temple Iowa have the same right to express their beliefs as all other religious groups do. However, Steen and other state officials treated the Iowa congregation of the Satanic Temple worse than others because they do not approve of their religion. That’s wrong, and it’s illegal under the Iowa Civil Rights Act. We filed our complaint as a first step in pushing the state, as it must, to come back in line with the constitutional and statutory requirements of religious freedom and nondiscrimination.

Steen is the third Republican to formally launch a campaign for governor. The others are former State Representative Brad Sherman and current State Representative Eddie Andrews.

U.S. Representative Randy Feenstra (IA-04) is officially still “exploring,” but he has spent heavily on TV ads promoting his candidacy for governor and has rolled out a bunch of endorsements. State Senator Mike Bousselot is expected to announce his gubernatorial campaign soon; he recently appeared at a candidate forum hosted by a Christian conservative group. I haven’t heard of any others seriously considering the race.

This is a strange, fractured field. It looks like Feenstra is the front runner by default, since he probably has the highest name ID. But he’s got a lot of detractors in Republican circles, as shown by his little-known challenger taking nearly 40 percent of the vote in last year’s GOP primary for IA-04.

Sherman and Andrews are also ordained ministers, so Steen doesn’t have a clear shot at being the “Jesus guy.” He may be able to raise more money than the other pastors in the field, though.

Lindsay James running for Congress in IA-02

Last Tuesday State Representative Lindsay James of Dubuque officially launched her campaign for Iowa’s second Congressional district. She promised to fight “to make life better for families across our district. We need to come together to build a stronger, fairer Iowa where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.”

James is an ordained Presbyterian pastor who has worked as a chaplain at colleges. She was first elected to the Iowa House in 2018, from the district Abby Finkenauer vacated to run for Congress herself. James loves to talk about her faith, and how it informs her core principles–which she says Republican incumbent Ashley Hinson lacks.

I have a personal policy against reporting on politicians’ hair, clothing, or appearance, but I had to make an exception for James, because she is really leaning into being a “feisty redhead.” It came up several times in my interview with her this week (“I am a redhead, and I am not afraid of a fight”), and I’ve seen her make similar comments to other reporters.

A major theme of her campaign is that Iowans are being forced to make “impossible choices” (such as choosing between food or rent and medicine), and she wants to give those people a voice. “No one should ever have to make these kinds of impossible choices in a country like ours,” she told me.

I gave James a chance to respond to the Hinson campaign statement that she is a “leftist lunatic” and “Iowa’s AOC.” She said it’s “extremely disappointing to see that kind of attack” and that’s “exactly why Iowans are exhausted by politics.” She doesn’t think taking care of our neighbors, seniors, veterans, our kids is “a lunatic idea.” It’s the right thing to do.

Spencer and I only had a few minutes to talk about James’ campaign. You can learn more about her from my interview:

Don Primus also seeking Democratic nomination in IA-02

The Cedar Rapids Gazette was first to report last week that “Former Pine Lake State Park manager Don Primus,” a Democrat from Hardin County, “filed paperwork earlier this month with the Federal Election Commission” to run for Congress in IA-02.

I have not talked to him yet and couldn’t find any campaign website or Facebook page. He previously ran unsuccessfully for Hardin County supervisor in 2020.

I saw after reading the Gazette that Primus attended a Democratic event in Buchanan County earlier this summer.

Primus told the Gazette “he’s running to protect and restore federal funding levels for Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and food assistance programs rolled back under the sweeping tax and spending bill passed by Republicans and signed into law by President Donald Trump, improve Iowa’s water quality, and to overturn Trump executive orders and policies he argues are harmful to due process and the rule of law.” He’s also concerned about Trump’s tariff policies.

That makes four Democrats running for Congress in IA-02. The others are Kathy Dolter and Clint Twedt-Ball, whom we covered on “KHOI’s Capitol Week” here and here. Those posts also include the videos of my interviews with Dolter and Twedt-Ball.

Ashley Hinson launches re-election campaign

Speculation is growing that Hinson will jump to Iowa’s U.S. Senate race if Senator Joni Ernst doesn’t seek a third term. But over the weekend she kicked off her re-election bid in IA-02. Tom Barton covered the event for the Cedar Rapids Gazette. The Des Moines Register posted some video of Hinson’s remarks.

She’s sticking with her strategy of effusively praising Trump and demonstrating her loyalty to him and his agenda. The president’s endorsement (or neutrality) would be important for Hinson if she does end up running for Senate, either next year or in 2028.

I wrote more about Hinson’s tight embrace of Trump in May.

Konfrst says she’s first to hit all 21 counties in IA-03

State Representative Jennifer Konfrst, one of three Democrats running for Congress in the third district, said in a news release on Monday that she was the first candidate from either party to visit all 21 counties in the district. That’s the red area on this map:

About 75 percent of the population is in Polk and Dallas counties; in a Democratic primary, I would guess perhaps 80 percent of the votes may come from Polk and Dallas. But there are still a decent number of votes in other counties. Konfrst is clearly banking on that strategy; she told me in May that she’d already been to Ottumwa (Wapello County) five times this year.

This primary race is expected to be competitive, and both Konfrst and State Senator Sarah Trone Garriott have strong networks in the Des Moines metro area. So it makes sense for candidates to look for votes everywhere.

Xavier Carrigan testifies against health insurance premium hikes

Last Tuesday, I listened in on the Iowa Insurance Division’s public hearing about proposed price hikes for individual health insurance plans. To my surprise, one member of the public who testified was Xavier Carrigan, the third Democrat running for Congress in IA-03.

This wasn’t a campaign event, but I wanted to flag it on the show. As I’ve mentioned before, I believe the price of health insurance through Affordable Care Act exchanges will force a lot of people to drop their coverage. This could be a big 2026 campaign issue.

Carrigan isn’t directly affected by the price hikes, since he currently gets health insurance coverage through his employer. He supports Medicare for All, universal coverage through a government-run health care plan. But he has been forced to buy his own coverage in the past. I published his testimony at Bleeding Heartland. Excerpts:

I know what it’s like to lose your insurance and be thrown into a system where every choice is a bad choice. When you’re uninsured and dealing with a chronic condition, the marketplace becomes a cruel joke disguised as help. [...]

The federal growth rate standard is 5.6 percent. Every percentage point above that is not medical necessity. It’s corporate greed. [...]

Let me tell you what these numbers mean for real people. When someone like me – someone with a chronic condition who lost their employer insurance – has to choose between marketplace plans, we’re already choosing between rent and medication. Between groceries and prescriptions. Between keeping the lights on and keeping our lungs working.

The companies selling Affordable Care Act Plans on the Iowa exchange want to jack up their premiums by a lot:

• Wellmark is asking for an average premium increase of 12.6%

• UnitedHealthcare is asking for an average increase of nearly 19%

• Oscar is asking for an average increase of 12.5%

• Iowa Total Care is asking for an average increase of nearly 27%

• Medica os asking for an average increase of nearly 27%

This will hit a lot of people hard.

Sometime within the next month Iowa Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen will likely decide whether to approve the increases the companies have requested.

Poll finds Democrats competitive with Ernst

State Senator Zach Wahls’ campaign released partial results from an opinion poll indicating that he leads Senator Joni Ernst after respondents heard descriptions of the candidates.

I want to emphasize caution here, because the Wahls campaign commissioned this survey by Public Policy Polling. You can view the public memo here.

I asked for a copy of the questionnaire and was able to review it shortly before Spencer and I went on the air. The descriptions were mostly positive about all of the Democratic candidates. However, the description of Wahls was entirely positive. The others all included one little bit about the other Democrats that respondents might perceive as negative:

• Josh Turek “is supported by establishment Democrats in Washington DC.”

• Jackie Norris “has also served as a political advisor to multiple Democratic campaigns, most recently the Biden campaign.”

• Nathan Sage “has no experience in elected office but is running to take on corporations and a rigged economy.”

I’m planning to write something about this poll and other recent surveys of Iowa’s U.S. Senate race. What struck me most was that the survey found Donald Trump still in positive territory (50 percent favorable/46 percent unfavorable), but Senator Joni Ernst is well underwater (37 favorable/50 percent unfavorable).

In head to head matchups after respondents saw descriptions of all the Democratic candidates, Ernst couldn’t get above 45 percent against any of them. All the findings were within the poll’s margin of error. But for what it’s worth, after learning more about the challengers:

• Wahls led Ernst by 45% to 43%

• Ernst led Sage by 44% to 42%

• Ernst led Norris by 44% to 43%

• Ernst led Turek by 44% to 43%

From the memo: “Public Policy Polling surveyed 572 Iowa voters from August 18-19, 2025. The survey’s margin of error is +/-4.1%. 69% of interviews for the survey were conducted by text message and 31% by telephone.”

Wahls rolls out another labor endorsement

The Teamsters Local 90 announced last week that they are supporting Wahls in the Democratic primary. He is the only Senate candidate so far to land any union endorsement for this race. We mentioned on last week’s show that Wahls is also backed by the the Ironworkers Local 89 in Cedar Rapids.

Wahls is banking on support from organized labor, which has been an influential force in some Iowa Democratic primaries.

On his social media feeds, Wahls has criticized “Washington Democrats” for getting involved in the IA-Sen primary. Turek is widely believed to be the preferred candidate of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

We don’t know whether the DSCC will be heavy-handed, as they were supporting Theresa Greenfield in Iowa’s 2020 Democratic primary, or less involved, as in the 2022 Senate race.

Grassley not ready to rule out ninth term

I got a kick out of Senator Chuck Grassley dodging a journalist’s question last week about his plans for the 2028 campaign. He told Steve Woodhouse of the Marion County Express, “This is the summer of my third year. So you need to ask that question in about two years.” He would be 95 years old at the time of the 2028 general election.

As I explained in my Bleeding Heartland post, I highly doubt Grassley will run for a ninth term. His campaign committee hasn’t raised more than $100,000 in any quarter since 2022.

Why not just admit that this is his final term? Maybe he doesn’t want to kick off a feeding frenzy right now, when there is so much speculation about Joni Ernst’s 2026 plans.

Grassley is the Senate president pro tem, a position held by the most senior member of the majority party. He’s also the oldest currently serving U.S. senator and the longest-serving member of Congress from Iowa in history. I was surprised to see he’s the sixth longest-serving senator of all-time. If he serves out his eighth term, he’ll get ahead of Strom Thurmond (South Carolina) and Ted Kennedy (Massachusetts) to tie with Patrick Leahy (Vermont) for third all-time longest serving senator.

To beat the all-time record set by Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Grassley would have to win another term in 2028 and serve for another three and a half years. He would be almost 99 years old at that point.

Iowa Democrats invite “family conversation” about 2028 caucuses

The Iowa Democratic Party is asking the public to weigh in on the future of the Iowa caucuses. An online survey opened last week and will be available through November 15, asking questions about how Democrats should structure the caucuses and how much they should follow the Democratic National Committee’s calendar.

I took the survey and am paraphrasing here, to give you the gist of the questions:

Critics have said the caucuses make it hard for some people to attend. Supporters of the process say it forces successful campaigns to organize across the whole state. Should the party focus on maximizing participation, making accommodations, keeping an alliance with New Hampshire, or return to the “in the room” format?

Should the IDP devote resources to the caucuses as party building? Or does that take time and money and energy away from what needs to happen to win elections?

Should the party work within the DNC process or “go rogue” if Iowa is not included among the early states?

Should the IDP do everything possible to avoid getting sued by the state if its process doesn’t follow state law?

Anyone can take the survey–it’s available on the Iowa Democratic Party’s website. They are particularly seeking insight from Democrats and will try to match names with voter registration records for that reason. But you don’t have to be a registered Democrat to take the poll.

Listening to the party’s press call last week, I sensed some denial about prospects for bringing back that first-in-the-nation magic. For instance, DNC member Scott Brennan said, “The DNC does not control us, and we control our own destiny — whatever that looks like.” But they really don’t. If the DNC calendar excludes Iowa as an early state, serious presidential contenders will not spend a lot of time campaigning here like they did in past election cycles.

State party chair Rita Hart emphasized during the press call that IDP leaders recognize they need to win some elections in 2026 in order to be considered as an early state. That strikes me as very important. At minimum, I think, Democrats need to win the governor’s race, have a fairly close U.S. Senate race, and pick up some U.S. House seats to demonstrate that Iowa can be a swing state again.

Notes on a few 2024 Iowa caucus contenders

Democrats didn’t have any serious competition at the 2024 Iowa caucuses, but Republicans did. I thought people might wonder what some of the former presidential candidates are doing now. Ron DeSantis, who finished a distant second behind Donald Trump, is term limited as governor of Florida. He hasn’t clarified his plans for next year. There has been some speculation that his wife, First Lady Casey DeSantis, might run for governor.

Nikki Haley, the third-place finisher in the caucuses, is working as vice chair of the government relations/public affairs division of a major firm, Edelman Global Advisory. A few weeks ago she waded into the Epstein files controversy, saying the files should be released.

Fourth place finisher Vivek Ramaswamy is now the front-runner for the GOP nomination for governor of Ohio, where he was born and raised.

Pastor Ryan Binkley (always a favorite for former “Capitol Week” co-host Dennis Hart) is gearing up to run for Congress in Texas now that they have redrawn the political maps.

Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson has a temporary position at the University of Arkansas law school.

Miller-Meeks goes viral for “No tax on tips” post

The Iowans in Congress have been touting that big budget reconciliation bill, and Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-01) got a lot of attention for a social media post that celebrated the “no tax on tips” policy.

A photo showed Miller-Meeks leaving a tip of a little more than $3 on an $18 restaurant bill. Here’s her post on X/Twitter from last Monday:

It has more than 10 million views and may be the most-viewed thing Miller-Meeks has ever posted on social media. Many commenters found her tip to be stingy.

I didn’t want to spend a lot of time on this, but Iowans should be aware, because we may hear more about this post during next year’s campaign.

Nunn using official funds for TV ad

Representative Zach Nunn (IA-03) is using part of his Congressional office budget for a TV ad highlighting the tax cuts in that big budget reconciliation bill. To my knowledge, this is the first time an Iowa member of Congress has used official funds for a television commercial.

People think of “franking” funds as going toward mail, but members of Congress can use them on other things. I’ve reported in the past on Miller-Meeks using taxpayer funds for radio commercials and social media posts.

Here’s the pro-Nunn ad:

The Des Moines Register got the exclusive on the ad, which features Sarah Curry. Marissa Payne’s article points out that Curry “works as research director for Iowans for Tax Relief, which has advocated for tax cuts at the state and federal levels.” Also worth noting: “The Curry family lives in Glenwood, which is in Iowa's 4th Congressional District represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra.”

I think Nunn would have done better to find some family who 1) lives in his district, and 2) doesn’t work for a conservative interest group.

Bernie Sanders does more town halls in August than entire Iowa delegation

One thing the Iowans in Congress are not doing during their summer recess is holding town hall meetings. Hinson did some public events in May, but I haven’t seen anything from Feenstra, Nunn, or Miller-Meeks.

In contrast, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont drew a big crowd in Davenport on Friday night, in the latest stop on his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour. Earlier this year he was in Iowa City for one of these events.

Sanders is emphasizing the harmful impacts of the reconciliation bill and focusing on U.S. House districts with vulnerable Republicans. Miller-Meeks is near the top of that list.

Preview of the Iowa Senate district 1 election

We spent several minutes talking about the August 26 special election in Woodbury County, covering much of the same ground I wrote about over the weekend.

We just had a few seconds to flag a story that will feature prominently in many 2026 campaigns: Iowa’s school voucher program is expected to cost nearly $350 million in the current budget year. That’s more than officials anticipated.

Thanks so much for reading or listening! We’ll be back soon.