After Ernst's Remarks, Iowa Democrat Says He's In

Sen. Joni Ernst's assurance to a town hall gathering that "we are all going to die" not only drew criticism, it inspired at least one Iowan to take action: State Rep. JD Scholten said Monday he's entering the 2026 race to replace her. "Now's the time, and rather than being perfect with everything, I just feel like you got to do it," the Democrat told Politico, saying the senator's answer about Medicaid cuts "disrespected" Iowans. Scholten had publicly discussed running against the two-term Republican for months.

Iowa hasn't had a Democratic US senator since 2008. Ernst won her seat in the 2020 general election by about 20 points, per the Hill. Scholten has run for Congress twice, losing by plenty in 2020 but coming within a few percentage points of GOP Rep. Steve King in 2018. The only other Democrat in the Senate race so far is Nathan Sage, executive director of the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce, per Politico. Medicaid will be an issue for people in the state, Scholten said.

"We're taking them off [Medicaid], so billionaires can have a second yacht, so they can have a bigger tax break," he said. "We have a system that's geared towards and favors billionaires and huge multinational corporations, and that's not working for most of Iowa." President Trump won Iowa by 13 points in November, per the Hill, but Scholten said he's ready for the challenge. "I know how to talk to folks who don't always vote Democrat," he said. (More Iowa stories.)