KDSN RADIO News
Iowa Democrats running for US Senate criticize deal to end gov’t shutdown
The three candidates campaigning for the Iowa Democratic Party’s 2026 U-S Senate nomination are criticizing the deal that may end the federal government shutdown.
Eight Democrats joined Republican senators tonight on a vote to advance a plan to fund the government, and the Senate’s GOP leader promises a vote by the second week in December on the health care subsidies that have been the major sticking point in negotiations.
State Representative Josh Turek of Council Bluffs faults the deal because it does not include protections for the Affordable Care Act subsidies that will expire for up to 125,000 Iowans on December 31. “I believe that health care is a human right,” Turek said tonight, “and we need legislators that are going to fight for it.”
State Senator Zach Wahls of Coralville said Senate Democrats should not “cave” on something of this magnitude. “Iowa needs a senator who doesn’t work for Chuck Schumer or for Donald Trump or the billionaires, we need a senator who works for us,” Wahls said tonight.
Nathan Sage of Indianola, a veteran and the former director of Knoxville’s chamber of commerce, said millions of Americans who depend on the health care subsidies face soaring health care premiums. “People need a life where they can actually afford the food and afford the health care they need,” Sage said, “and it seems like we don’t have leadership that’s willing to fight for that.”
The three candidates spoke earlier tonight at an Iowa Democratic Party fundraiser. Rita Hart, the party’s chair, spoke with reporters after the event. She’s skeptical Republicans will ever vote to extend the health care subsidies. “Where is their plan?” Hart asked rhetorically. “For them to promise things without a real concrete way to cash in on that, I think that’s really difficult.”
During the fundraiser, Hart said Democrats won national races last week and in special legislative elections in Iowa so far this year by focusing on kitchen table issues. “Now is the time for Democrats to stand up with their fellow Iowans and say: Time for Change!'” Hart said, drawing cheers from the crowd. “Time for change! Stand up!”
Hart also announced that after a two-year effort, the party has filled local leadership roles in about a dozen counties, and it now has a chair in each of Iowa’s 99 counties. Rob Sand and Julie Stauch, Democrats who are running for governor, spoke to the crowd. Other Democratic candidates for Congress and for statewide office were featured in short videos. One of the keynote speakers was to have been Mark Kelly, a U.S. Senator from Arizona, who stayed in Washington, D.C., since the Senate was in session today. In a recorded video played at tonight’s event, Kelly did not mention the pending deal to end the government shutdown. His wife, former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, did speak briefly in Des Moines and got a standing ovation from the crowd. Giffords was gravely injured in early 2011 during a shooting at a constituent event and suffered a brain injury. She has become an advocate for gun violence prevention.
The crowd made cash donations for food banks tonight, and the party plans to host events around the state to collect food for food banks and food pantries.
