{"id":624952,"date":"2026-05-05T14:28:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T14:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/624952\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T14:28:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T14:28:10","slug":"republicans-fret-over-iowa-as-tough-midterm-races-develop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/624952\/","title":{"rendered":"Republicans fret over Iowa as tough midterm races develop"},"content":{"rendered":"

DES MOINES, Iowa \u2014 Vice President JD Vance<\/a> lands here Tuesday in an effort to boost the re-election campaign of Rep. Zach Nunn \u2014 the latest development that underscores Republicans\u2019 midterm jitters in a state that has moved to the right in recent years.<\/p>\n

\"NBC<\/p>\n

Subscribe to read this story ad-free <\/p>\n

Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.<\/p>\n

\"arrow\"<\/p>\n

In Iowa\u2019s race for governor<\/a>, the GOP is dealing with a jumbled June 2 primary field while the presumptive Democratic nominee, State Auditor Rob Sand, coasts without opposition.<\/p>\n

And in the battle for an open Senate seat<\/a>, the main Republican-aligned Senate super PAC in Washington is preparing to pump nearly $30 million worth of advertising into a state that hasn\u2019t elected a Democrat to the chamber in 18 years.<\/p>\n

Vance\u2019s appearance with Nunn, meanwhile, is connected to the GOP\u2019s scramble to keep control of the House, where the party has a slim majority heading into this fall\u2019s elections. Nunn\u2019s is one of at least two Republican-held seats in Iowa that could flip to Democrats this fall. <\/p>\n

\"JDVice President JD Vance in Washington on Jan. 23.Brendan Smialowski \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Jeff Kaufmann, the Iowa GOP chair, said he believes Tuesday\u2019s visit to the state will be the first of many for Vance, a likely White House contender in 2028. Iowa is known for hosting the first presidential caucuses. <\/p>\n

\u201cIowa is in the crosshairs again this year,\u201d Kaufmann said in an interview. \u201cA wide-open Senate seat, potentially three \u2014 right now it looks like two, but potentially three \u2014 competitive congressional seats. Majorities in the Senate and the House pass through Iowa. And we\u2019ve got an open governor\u2019s race.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI suspect we\u2019re going to be seeing a lot of national leaders trekking through the Hawkeye State,\u201d Kaufmann added. \u201cAnd the welcome mat is open.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democrats have thrown out the mat, as well. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., a potential presidential candidate in 2028, visited last month to campaign with Nunn\u2019s challenger, state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot more in play here than Washington thinks,\u201d Slotkin said then in an interview. \u201cEight years ago, this was a swing state, and I think a lot of people have written it off. And I think that\u2019s ill-advised.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Grab the popcorn\u2019 in the governor\u2019s primary<\/p>\n

Iowa\u2019s primary for governor has become a particular headache for Republicans. <\/p>\n

Gov. Kim Reynolds<\/a>, a Republican, chose not to seek a third full term as governor. <\/p>\n

Rep. Randy Feenstra has long been seen as the front-runner in the five-candidate GOP field. But Zach Lahn, a farmer and businessman, has turned heads with a self-funded campaign and an endorsement from MAHA Action, a group aligned with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.\u2019s \u201cMake America Healthy Again\u201d movement. Others in the race include former state Administrative Services Director Adam Steen, state Rep. Eddie Andrews and former state Rep. Brad Sherman. <\/p>\n

President Donald Trump hasn\u2019t endorsed a candidate, disappointing some Republicans who were hoping his intervention might thin the field. If no candidate gets 35% of the vote in next month\u2019s primary, a convention of grassroots delegates will determine the nominee. A recent Des Moines Register headline<\/a> asked: \u201cDoes Randy Feenstra have a grassroots problem?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRandy Feenstra is the only Republican who can defeat Rob Sand and keep the Governor\u2019s office in conservative hands,\u201d Feenstra spokesperson Billy Fuerst wrote in a statement. \u201cIowans trust Randy because he delivers results and keeps his promises like passing the Farm Bill and enacting the largest tax cuts in Iowa and U.S. history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other Republicans were reluctant to make predictions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d state Rep. Ray Sorensen, a member of the state party\u2019s central committee, replied when he was asked how he sees the primary unfolding. \u201cGrab the popcorn and sit down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRepublicans are trying to find out who their guy is,\u201d he added. \u201cThe Democrats already know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kaufmann and other GOP leaders concede Sand\u2019s strengths as a candidate, including fundraising that draws from his wife\u2019s wealthy family. But Kaufmann chalked up much of the buzz<\/a> around Sand, who is unopposed in the Democratic primary, to \u201chype.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"ElectionIowa State Auditor Rob Sand in Audubon in 2023.Charlie Neibergall \/ AP file<\/p>\n

Sand, Kauffman added, has packaged himself as a moderate without taking stands that would either align him more closely with progressives or alienate them.<\/p>\n

Kollin Crompton, a spokesperson for the Republican Governors Association, which invests in competitive races, said: \u201cThat\u2019s the con: campaign as a moderate, govern like a liberal. It\u2019s the same playbook Democrats used with Abigail Spanberger in Virginia. Iowans won\u2019t fall for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Izzi Levy, a spokesperson for the rival Democratic Governors Association, emphasized Sand\u2019s advantage in not having to take arrows in a rancorous primary.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile Rob Sand is earning support from all 99 counties in Iowa and building a winning coalition that crosses the political spectrum,\u201d Levy said, \u201call of his Republican opponents are trapped in a nasty primary that shows no signs of letting up as they fall all over themselves trying to tie themselves Kim Reynolds, the most unpopular governor<\/a> in the country for two years running.\u201d<\/p>\n

A scramble for a Senate seat<\/p>\n

Democrats aren\u2019t as lucky in the battle for the Senate seat, which is up for grabs after Republican Joni Ernst decided against seeking re-election. Rep. Ashley Hinson is heavily favored to win the GOP nomination. But Democrats have a tough primary between state Rep. Josh Turek and state Sen. Zach Wahls.<\/p>\n

The Turek-Wahls fight has exposed ideological tensions within the party. Wahls, who has been endorsed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren<\/a> of Massachusetts, has tried to link Turek with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. Schumer hasn\u2019t endorsed in the race, but there have been signals<\/a> that he prefers Turek.<\/p>\n

But signs that the general election will be competitive, regardless of which Democrat advances, came last month from the GOP-aligned Senate Leadership Fund, which committed at least $29 million to an Iowa ad blitz designed to help Hinson. Turek has described the super PAC\u2019s plans as a \u201crescue\u201d effort for Hinson, betraying national Republican fears that the seat is flippable.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s close to how much the Senate Leadership Fund spent in Iowa in 2020, when Ernst won re-election by 6.5 percentage points amid nine figures worth of outside spending.<\/p>\n

\u201cAshley Hinson is a tremendous candidate and will be a critical part of the Republican Senate majority,\u201d Chris Gustafson, the Senate Leadership Fund\u2019s communications director, said in a statement. \u201cWe look forward to supporting her to ensure Iowa continues to be represented by a strong conservative senator.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iowa Democratic Party spokesperson Drew Myers said Democrats would focus on Hinson\u2019s support of Trump\u2019s tariffs<\/a> and the Iran war<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlus, her record of gutting Medicaid and supporting the overturn of Roe v. Wade<\/a> has never been scrutinized on a statewide level,\u201d Myers added. \u201cDemocrats\u2019 recent special election victories show that Iowa is in play, and Iowa voters will reject Hinson\u2019s failing record.\u201d <\/p>\n

Addie Lavis, Hinson\u2019s deputy campaign manager, offered a statement taking note of the acrimonious battle on the Democratic side.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t take anything for granted \u2014 but watching the Democrat primary gives us all the confidence you could ask for,\u201d Lavis said. \u201cAshley will beat whichever crazy liberal they pick. Iowa is behind her \u2014 and she\u2019s ready to fight and win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Battle for the House runs through Iowa<\/p>\n

Vance\u2019s appearance with Nunn here Tuesday signifies White House concerns about preserving the GOP\u2019s House majority. Trump has expressed fears<\/a> that a Democratic takeover could result in another impeachment of him.<\/p>\n

Republicans are playing defense in Nunn\u2019s 3rd District, as well as in the 1st District, where Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks is expected to face a tough challenge from former state Rep. Christina Bohannan. Both districts are top Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee targets.<\/p>\n

Both parties are also keeping close tabs on the 2nd District, which Hinson is leaving to run for the Senate. The National Republican Congressional Committee has included former state Rep. Joe Mitchell, who is seeking the GOP nomination there, in its \u201cMAGA Majority\u201d program for candidates running for open or Democratic-held seats. The DCCC also considers it a district in play. State Rep. Lindsay James is viewed as the leading candidate in the Democratic primary.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s Nunn\u2019s seat that is seen as the most vulnerable. The race has already turned nasty, with Nunn\u2019s allies trying to turn one of Trone Garriott\u2019s projected strengths \u2014 her work as a Lutheran minister \u2014 into a weakness. <\/p>\n

Republicans, for example, have highlighted her defense of a Wiccan prayer<\/a> offered at the State Capitol in 2015. They also have pointed to her first-person account<\/a> of her participation in the Christian wedding of two satanists while she was training to be a pastor. Trone Garriott, speaking to the Des Moines Register, recalled her reluctance and her being \u201cirritated\u201d after she was asked to pick the scriptures for the ceremony. But, she concluded, \u201clife and people and love are not perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n

A person familiar with Nunn\u2019s campaign previewed a message asserting that \u201ceveryday Iowans get a lecture\u201d from Trone Garriott while \u201cwitches and satanists get defended in op-eds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trone Garriott, in an interview, responded by criticizing Nunn for his vote for Trump\u2019s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.<\/p>\n

\u201cPoliticians like Zach Nunn are attacking my faith and my ministry, because I\u2019ve had the courage to call them out,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve had the courage to call him out about how his decisions are hurting Iowans. He voted to take away health care from my neighbors, and people are losing their doctors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trone Garriott also mentioned Nunn\u2019s support for Trump\u2019s tariffs and war.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are things he needs to be showing up and listening to the people about,\u201d she said, before she noted his scheduled appearance with Vance. \u201cInstead, he\u2019s spending more time with D.C. politicians.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DES MOINES, Iowa \u2014 Vice President JD Vance lands here Tuesday in an effort to boost the re-election…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624953,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-624952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}