KDSN RADIO News
Iowa Congresswoman Hinson ‘all in’ on 2026 U.S. Senate race
Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson is running for the U.S. Senate in 2026.
Hinson posted her announcement on social media, about four hours after Republican Senator Joni Ernst released a video message saying she would not seek reelection. Hinson, a Republican from Marion, said on her campaign’s X account: “I’m all in…As Iowa’s next senator, I will stop at nothing to Make America Great.”
Hinson was first elected to the U.S. House in 2020 and won re-election to a third term last year with over 57% of the vote. Hinson held a campaign fundraiser 10 days ago and told the crowd Republicans in congress are “just getting started” on implementing the president’s agenda.
“The America First movement is no longer a rallying cry. It is a governing agenda and boy have we been busy these last eight months since President Trump came into office. I have been so proud to fight alongside the president,” Hinson said on August 23. “…President Trump has restored the American Dream for all of us and I look forward to what we can do going forward.”
Three Democrats had previously announced they’re running in the second congressional district, which Hinson currently represents. State Representative Lindsay James of Dubuque is a Presbyterian pastor. Kathy Dolter, a retired Army nurse, was dean of the Kirkwood Community College nursing program. Clint Twedt-Ball is a pastor who recently stepped down from the Cedar Rapids-based “Matthew 25” non-profit he co-founded.
Iowa Democratic Party chair Rita Hart, in a written statement, criticized Hinson’s recent vote for President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” and said Hinson “has spent her career prioritizing multi-millionaires like herself while she sells out working people in Iowa.”
Shortly after Hinson announced she was running for the U.S. Senate, State Representative Shannon Lundgren, a Republican from Peosta, announced she is seriously considering running for congress. Republicans Jim Carlin of Sergeant Bluff and Joshua Smith of Indianola announced earlier this year that they would challenge Ernst in the 2026 GOP primary.
