Wahls/Turek debate, new ads and polls

May 11 edition of "KHOI's Capitol Week"

Screenshots from new ads promoting Democrat Zach Wahls, Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks, and Republican Brad Sherman

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KHOI has continued to give me this weekly platform—with total editorial freedom—for more than five years. In contrast, I’ve been invited to talk about my political reporting on other Iowa-based radio or television stations fewer than five times in my entire career.

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On to our regularly scheduled programming! The audio file from the May 11 edition of “KHOI’s Capitol Week” is at the top of this post. Spencer Dirks and I mostly covered campaign news on this week’s show, but we squeezed in some stories about state government and Congress, and one important bill (now signed into law) that we hadn’t discussed before.

If your email provider truncates this post, you can read it without interruption here.

Early voting begins this week

Iowans can begin voting in the Democratic or Republican primary this Wednesday, May 13. That’s 20 days before the June 2 primary election.

All 99 county elections offices will be available for in-person early voting during regular business hours from May 13 through June 1. Whether you are voting early or at your precinct polling place on election day, you will need to bring some valid ID. Here are the options, from the Iowa Secretary of State’s website:

• Iowa Driver’s License (not expired more than 90 days)

• Iowa Non-Operator’s ID (not expired more than 90 days)

• U.S. Passport (not expired)

• U.S. Military ID or Veteran ID (not expired)

• Iowa Voter ID PIN card (must be signed)

• Tribal ID Card/Document (must be signed, with photo, not expired)

Iowa has same-day voter registration. If you need to register or have moved since you last voted, you will need to bring some proof of address (such as a lease, utility bill or cell phone bill, bank statement, paycheck, government document, or property tax statement) in addition to an ID.

If you want to vote by mail, get your absentee ballot request form in ASAP. Your county auditor must receive that form by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, May 18.

Zach Wahls, Josh Turek face off in first debate

One of Iowa’s most closely watched primaries will be the Democratic race for U.S. Senate. Last Tuesday, Iowa PBS hosted the first debate between State Representative Josh Turek and State Senator Zach Wahls. If you missed it, you can watch the replay here.

Both candidates are knowledgeable and well-spoken. I don’t see any major ideological difference in this primary (unlike, for instance, the Democratic Senate primaries in Michigan or Maine). Since Wahls and Turek have similar voting records, a few differences between them are getting magnified.

“Dark money” was a recurring point of contention in the debate. Wahls highlighted the vast support Turek is receiving in independent expenditures from VoteVets, a super PAC tied to Democratic leadership in Washington. VoteVets has spent more than $7 million since March to promote Turek. Wahls argued that he is the outsider candidate, and said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is “trying to buy an election.” (Digital ads and direct mail for Wahls also tout this “Iowans over insiders” theme.)

Turek accused Wahls of leading “a dark money PAC”—The Next 50, for which Wahls previously served as executive director. He also brought up a $250,000 donation that Wahls solicited for the Iowa Senate Democrats in 2022. The crypto company executive who made that donation was later charged with fraud, and the Iowa Democratic Party is carrying $200,000 in debt to pay the money back.

Immigration policy was another point of contention. Both Wahls and Turek have said they would demand reforms to ICE before approving additional funding. But Wahls pointed out that Turek was among a handful of Democrats who voted for Senate File 2340 in 2024. That law (which a federal court put on hold) made “illegal re-entry” a state crime, and called for state officials to arrest and remove those in violation. Wahls voted against the bill and said it made Iowa less safe. He noted that the ACLU of Iowa and some law enforcement groups opposed the legislation.

Turek countered that he voted for that bill during the Biden administration, which was “fundamentally different” from how ICE has behaved during the Trump administration. He also said the bill “only applied to individuals that had come here illegally and had already been deported.” He said the issue was “deeply personal” to him, since he’s married to an immigrant and has seen how the system works.

If you watched the debate, what did you think? I didn’t see any breakout moments and haven’t encountered anyone whose mind was changed by what they heard. I think some exchanges reinforced the way each candidate’s supporters were already leaning.

Latest polls show Turek leading

Earlier this year, the Wahls campaign and a Republican group released polls showing Wahls ahead of Turek. But the huge spending by VoteVets appears to have improved Turek’s position.

VoteVets released partial results from their own polling a couple of weeks ago. Their baseline survey in March showed Wahls leading Turek by 34 percent to 25 percent, with 41 percent of respondents undecided. A poll VoteVets commissioned in late April shoed Turek leading by 48 percent to 28 percent, with 24 percent undecided.

Last Wednesday, Turek’s campaign released partial results from an internal poll showing him leading Wahls by 53 percent to 27 percent, and by a 46-29 margin among respondents who were familiar with both candidates.

Harkin endorses Turek

On Friday former Senator Tom Harkin endorsed Josh Turek for the Democratic primary, citing his work ethic, “can do” spirit, and ability to win elections “in a very challenging area for Democrats.” I wasn’t surprised. Harkin headlined events for Turek in Council Bluffs during the 2022 and 2024 election cycles, and he doesn’t do that for many state legislative candidates. Turek credits the Americans with Disabilities Act for his entire career.

(Side note: Harkin has known Wahls for a long time as well and officiated at his wedding in 2021.)

Harkin told Douglas Burns of The Iowa Mercury,

There are a number of factors that go into an endorsement, Harkin said in the interview, noting that a final consideration is what Harkin says are inaccurate criticisms of the support for Turek from a veterans advocacy PAC, VoteVets.

“I just saw some of this negativity coming, and I thought, ‘Wait a minute, this is not right,’” Harkin said in The Iowa Mercury interview.

“Josh is as much a victim of the Vietnam War as veterans who were out in the field fighting, absolutely,” Harkin said.

Harkin sees VoteVets as a force for good. “They have really supported some great candidates,” Harkin said.

Elizabeth Warren campaigns with Wahls

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts endorsed Wahls a while back and came to Des Moines to campaign with him. I attended their joint rally on Sunday, which was very well-attended, despite the beautiful weather. Fighting against insiders and the influence of big money in politics was a major theme. Warren described the first time she met Wahls in 2019, at a trailer park in Johnson County. She was impressed by his willingness to take on private equity companies that were buying manufactured housing communities and squeezing the owners.

I also went to a round table discussion on Monday, where Wahls and Warren talked with several nurses. The nurses spoke about challenges including Iowa’s health care deserts, the lack of fair contracts, and working conditions that put patients at risk.

I forgot to mention during the show that Wahls recently released a health care plan. Among his priorities: creating a “public option” so people can buy into Medicare, lowering the Medicare eligibility age to 55, reversing the Medicaid cuts from last year’s budget reconciliation bill, and restoring the tax credits for health insurance purchased through Affordable Care Act exchanges.

Wahls and Warren spoke to reporters after the roundtable. I recorded the Q&A.

Warren sees Iowa’s Senate race as crucial to getting Democrats to 51 seats. She made the case that Wahls is electable because people want a fighter, and they will see what he’s done for Iowans. Also, she said, it will be very powerful when he tells the story about marshaling support for a mobile home bill that the Iowa Senate approved unanimously, only to have Ashley Hinson (the likely Republican Senate nominee) kill it in the state House.

Warren believes that if Democrats gain control of Congress, they will be able to use that leverage in federal budget negotiations to force President Trump to reverse some of the Medicaid cuts due to take effect in 2027.

Wahls ad touts his fights for Iowa families

We didn’t have time to cover this on last week’s show, but Wahls launched his campaign’s first TV ad in late April.

“When Republican politicians targeted families like mine, I found the courage to fight for my family,” the candidate says, as the viewer sees footage from his viral speech to Iowa House members in 2011. “As a state senator, I fought for your family, taking on Big Pharma, greedy corporations, and corrupt politicians like Ashley Hinson and Donald Trump.”

Wahls says the billionaires and insiders don’t want him in Washington, “because they know I don’t work for them.”

We’ve reported before on how organized labor is an important base of support for Wahls in this primary, with more than two dozen endorsements. On Monday, the campaign rolled out another one, from the Iowa Professional Fire Fighters. (During his speeches, Wahls often mentions how private equity has rolled up a significant share of fire truck manufacturing, raising costs for local governments.)

Top Senate Republican campaigns with Ashley Hinson

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune came to Ankeny on Friday for a round table discussion with Ashley Hinson. The event highlighted the tax cuts from last year’s reconciliation bill. Republicans initially branded that legislation as the “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” but since last fall they have been calling it the “Working Families Tax Cut.”

From where I’m sitting, it’s a strange choice to campaign with Thune. He’s not a household name, and he is the ultimate Washington insider. But it does make sense for Hinson and other Republicans to talk about concrete savings for some families. Polls show widespread concern about high prices, and all-time low marks for Trump on the economy.

Since “affordability” is more of a general election message, I infer that Hinson isn’t worried about her primary challenger, Jim Carlin.

JD Vance campaigns with Zach Nunn

It was a big week for national politicians campaigning in Iowa. Vice President JD Vance came to Des Moines last Tuesday to support Representative Zach Nunn (IA-03), one of the country’s most vulnerable House Republicans.

On last week’s show, we mentioned a poll commissioned by a Republican group, which noted that Nunn had room to improve with the GOP base. I think that was the purpose of the event. Vance repeatedly talked about how Nunn has worked with Trump on various issues. He said you’re never going to agree with every single thing a member of Congress does, but you want to know they are fighting for you.

Vance spent a lot of time talking about immigration, manufacturing, and the so-called “working families tax cut.” He implied that the only people who will lose food assistance due to GOP policies are fraudsters.

In one clip that was widely shared, Vance was trying to make fun of Nunn’s Democratic challenger, State Senator Sarah Trone Garriott. But he botched her name and had to ask Nunn to help him out while he shuffled his papers. The vice president criticized the Democrat’s voting record and suggested she has been obsessed with transgender people.

Trone Garriott made fun of Vance in several social media posts and fundraising emails, so she didn’t seem too worried that the visit would help her opponent.

Operative paid $100 for people to attend Vance rally

It was hard to tell from the footage how many people attended Nunn’s rally with Vance. Zachary Oren Smith reported for Iowa Starting Line last week that Jake Swanson, an Iowa lobbyist who formerly worked on Governor Reynolds’ staff, was offering $100 to people willing to attend the rally, plus $25 referral bonuses.

Shout out to Zach for getting this scoop while on vacation in his home state of Mississippi!

It’s not clear who was paying to pack this event. Swanson wrote in a text message, “I wanted to invite you to join me in seeing Vice President JD Vance this afternoon in Des Moines. I do some work for an ethanol company and so if you’re able to join, I will give you $100, and for anyone that you recruit, an additional $25. No limit on referrals, so if someone recruits a group of 20 to show up, that’s $500.”

Swanson didn’t directly answer Oren Smith’s questions but said he was doing this “in my own personal spare time.” One of his lobbying clients that is connected to biofuels told Iowa Starting Line they had no knowledge about what he was doing related to this event.

It’s legal to pay someone to attend a political rally. The problematic angle is not knowing where the money is coming from. And of course the optics are bad if you have to pay people to come see the vice president.

Trone Garriott doing town hall tour

Trone Garriott is in the middle of what she’s calling a “Faith in Iowa” tour, with events in all 21 counties in the third district in 21 days. The Ottumwa Courier covered her first stop, in Ottumwa on May 1.

“Faith in Iowa” is a play on the fact that the Democrat is an ordained Lutheran minister. It also highlights that Trone Garriott is willing to show up to hear from Iowans. Every time she does one of these events, she reminds the audience that Nunn has never held a public town hall since being elected to Congress.

Trone Garriott shared Iowa Starting Line’s scoop on social media, commenting, “I'm hitting the road tomorrow for the next two stops on my faith in Iowa tour, where you'll find nobody paid to be there.”

Miller-Meeks launches first TV ad of the cycle

In Iowa’s first Congressional district, GOP incumbent Mariannette Miller-Meeks is running her campaign’s first TV ad this year. It’s focused on health care and her role as “the doctor in the house.”

You may say, hang on: I’ve seen lots of Miller-Meeks ads already. Those were paid for by outside groups like the American Action Fund.

In the ad, Miller-Meeks says, “For 40 years I’ve had one job: it’s health care.” She mentions serving in the U.S. Army, then becoming a nurse and a doctor.

We all know health care will be a major campaign issue for Democrats this fall. I see this ad as Miller-Meeks’ attempt to inoculate herself against such attacks. She tells the viewer, “I fight against big insurance companies that are ripping us off. They made prices too high. […] Nobody should go broke just because they get sick.”

Twedt-Ball, James on TV in IA-02

Two of the three Democratic candidates in the second Congressional district are running TV ads. Clint Twedt-Ball was the first to go on the air in April, with a spot highlighting his flood recovery work in Cedar Rapids. “When things are broken, we fix them,” he says in the ad. There’s footage from 2008, when he helped rebuild hundreds of homes through a nonprofit he co-founded.

Lindsay James launched her first ad last week. She introduces herself as an ordained chaplain and a Democratic representative, and says she has witnessed the “impossible choices” people have to make. When she sees a broken and corrupt system hurting people, her faith compels her to fix it.

Both Twedt-Ball and James are ordained. He’s a United Methodist elder, she’s Presbyterian. The third candidate in the Democratic primary is Kathy Dolter.

Questions surround Joe Mitchell’s residence

With so much legislative news last week, we didn’t have time to cover a story about the Republican front runner in IA-02. I reported last September that Joe Mitchell changed his voter registration to an address in Clear Lake a few days before launching his campaign for Congress.

Zachary Oren Smith reported for Iowa Starting Line that public records show Mitchell took a homestead tax credit on a property in southeast Iowa while “his voter registration, business filings, and a condo purchase all pointed to a different address in downtown Des Moines.”

On its own, this story might not be a big deal. But it reinforces a potentially damaging narrative: Mitchell isn’t rooted in the district. He has worked on development projects in northeast Iowa for several years, but he grew up in southeast Iowa (IA-01) and represented that part of the state in the Iowa legislature. In recent years he was living in Des Moines (IA-03).

Dave Bushaw says he can qualify for IA-02 ballot

Dave Bushaw has been running for Congress as an independent since last November. He announced last Wednesday that his campaign has collected enough signatures for him to qualify for the Congressional ballot. He compared the process to an “obstacle course” and said, “Iowa’s not broken, but the political elite have sure as hell designed the system to keep people like us out.”

There was some confusion, because last year, the legislature moved up the filing deadline for third-party or independent candidates to June 2. For decades they have had until late August to qualify. The Iowa Secretary of State’s office initially had outdated information on its website. Bushaw said in his statement, “They moved the goalposts in the middle of the night and forgot to tell anybody where they put them, and we still ran the ball into the end zone.”

To qualify for the November ballot, Bushaw will need to collect at least 1,726 valid signatures from eligible voters across the Congressional district, including at least 47 signatures from at least half of the counties. He says he will overshoot that mark, assuming Democratic and Republican operatives will try to challenge his petitions.

Brad Sherman advertising on digital, streaming platforms

Former State Representative Brad Sherman, one of five Republicans running for governor, has a new ad running on digital and streaming platforms. He’s at a fundraising disadvantage, so unlike his competitors Randy Feenstra, Zach Lahn, and Adam Steen, he can’t afford to run ads on television.

The ad focuses on Sherman’s conservative record and his broad range of work experience: he’s been a pastor for 45 years, but he’s also built homes and done excavating and farm drainage work, “so I literally have swamp draining experience!”

In the ad, Sherman promises to “protect the right to life, liberty, and property, and restore the foundations of freedom.”

I noticed the ad amassed 124,000 views on YouTube in less than a week. That made me think some big conservative accounts or influencers may have been sharing the message.

Poll shows 2-point race for Iowa attorney general

The Democratic Attorneys General Association released partial findings from a poll last week showing GOP incumbent Brenna Bird ahead of Democratic challenger Nate Willems by just 2 points: 45 percent to 43 percent.

The usual caveats apply to this internal poll: we don’t have the full questionnaire or polling details. I still find it notable that Willems is so close to the incumbent, given that he hasn’t done any large-scale advertising. The poll sample had more self-identified Republicans than Democrats; respondents would have supported Trump over Harris by 10 points. The polling memo noted that Willems is already ahead of Bird among independents, an important voting bloc (44 percent to 29 percent).

I interviewed Willems again last week to hear how his campaign is going. His main message is wanting to put the focus of the Attorney General’s office back on Iowans: workers, consumers, seniors, and ordinary people. He also wants to build a new wage enforcement unit to make sure employers are complying with labor laws.

Iowa Secretary of State gave voter data to feds

Last week Erin Murphy reported for the Cedar Rapids Gazette that Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate provided Iowans’ private voter data to the Trump administration’s Justice Department. But Pate did not sign a memorandum that would commit to removing Iowans from the voter rolls if the federal government declared them ineligible.

Anyone can purchase a voter file from the Secretary of State’s office with basic details like voter addresses and a history showing which elections they participated in. Pate’s office handed over private information, such as driver’s license numbers and Social Security numbers.

The memorandum he refused to sign would have agreed to remove voters from the rolls if instructed to do so by the federal government. In a letter to the Justice Department, Pate observed, “It is well-established fact and law that states are responsible for elections and voter list maintenance.”

Democrats slam officials for not fighting the Trump administration

Pate’s Democratic challenger, Ryan Peterman, called it “indefensible” for the secretary to hand over unredacted voter registration data. Peterman said in a statement that Pate’s action “should worry every Iowan.”

Iowa voters have a right to know that their sensitive personal data, including driver’s license numbers and Social Security Numbers, will be handled with care and kept confidential. Unfortunately, Secretary Pate has willingly handed that information to the federal government, and we have no idea how it will be used or kept safe. It is a complete dereliction of duty from our chief election official in Iowa, who is tasked with protecting our most sensitive information.

Peterman noted that 30 other states fought the Justice Department over this issue. “Iowans deserve a Secretary of State who will fight for all Iowans, not one who gives into the demands of his party leaders.”

Willems also released a statement on this topic, because Bird signed off on Pate’s decision. “The attorney general should always fight to protect the privacy of Iowans and protect their personal data, including when the federal government takes unprecedented steps to interfere with a state’s ability to administer elections,” Willems said. “While attorneys general across the country, both Republicans and Democrats alike, have stood up to this overreach, Brenna Bird chose to rubber-stamp the request and hand over Iowans’ information.”

IPERS CEO resigns, raising more questions

Governor Reynolds announced last week that she accepted the resignation of Greg Samorajski as CEO of the public pension system IPERS. Former IPERS chief benefits officer Steven Herbert was fired last week as well. Both had been on administrative leave since March 31.

We still know so little about what alleged misconduct led to these personnel changes. A whistleblower lawsuit from a former IPERS employee is pending. Reynolds hired Samorajski in 2020, and Samorajski hired Herbert in 2025.

State Treasurer Roby Smith, a Republican and member of the IPERS Investment Board, said in a statement that his focus “remains on maintaining the long-term strength of the system for current and future retirees.”

Smith’s Democratic challenger, John Norwood, spoke to reporters on Monday (watch that news conference here). He wants an independent review of IPERS operations and possibly changes in oversight and governance structure. Perhaps the IPERS board (rather than the governor) should hire the CEO.

Republicans may allocate $1 billion for White House ballroom

We didn’t have much time for news from Congress, but I wanted to flag a couple of noteworthy stories. A controversy landed in Senator Chuck Grassley’s lap as the Senate gears up to fund immigration enforcement without any Democratic votes.

Congress recently approved funding for most of the Department of Homeland Security, except for ICE and Border Patrol. The plan was to use the budget reconciliation process (avoiding a Democratic filibuster) to pass a bill allocating around $70 billion for immigration enforcement.

Republicans now want to spend $1 billion on security measures related to President Trump’s White House ballroom project. The bill is going through the Senate Judiciary Committee because technically, the funding will be for the Secret Service.

If this bill goes back to the House with ballroom-related funding, that could be a tough vote for Miller-Meeks, Hinson, Nunn, and Feenstra. Trump said many times that private donors would cover the full cost of his vanity project.

Grassley’s hot mic moment

We were able to spend a minute on a story I reported last week. Senator Grassley made news during a Judiciary Committee hearing in late April, when a question he meant for his aides was caught on a hot mic.

Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut was trying to pin down four nominees for U.S. District Court judgeships on a simple question: Who won the 2020 presidential election? As they refused to give a straight answer, Grassley could be heard (off camera) asking, “What would be wrong if they said Biden won?”

This piece is my most-viewed Substack post of the year so far, as well as the most-viewed post published at Bleeding Heartland during 2026.

Finally, animal torture is a felony offense in Iowa

With so many bills in play during the legislative session, I don’t think we ever covered House File 2348, which makes animal torture a felony offense. Governor Kim Reynolds signed the bill at the Animal Rescue League’s facility on Monday. It was a long time coming.

I’m always interested in bills that may seem uncontroversial if you just look at the roll call votes. Sometimes advocates have to spend years working to bring those bills to the floor.

At the bill signing, someone mentioned that there were efforts to pass this kind of bill during the 1990s. Iowa was the very last state to make animal torture a felony as a first-time offense.

The House approved this bill unanimously in early March. But even though no group was openly lobbying against it, it languished for weeks on the Senate’s unfinished business calendar.

As far as I could tell, some Republicans were worried about the potential impact for livestock producers. (That wasn’t a valid concern, because the bill applies to the Iowa Code chapter on “companion animals,” not livestock.) In the final days of the legislative session, the Senate finally passed it unanimously, with a minor amendment, and the House concurred.

I forgot to mention during the show that this law is important, not only because animals deserve protection, but also because people who are cruel to animals often commit violent crimes against humans as well.

That’s all for now! Here’s a photo a took at the bill signing, with Reynolds, legislators, advocates, and a very cute puppy named Ember. She is recovering well in a foster home after surviving horrific abuse a few months ago.