Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa made some callous and disgusting feedback about her assist for Medicaid cuts throughout a city corridor on Might 30, telling constituents that “we all are going to die.”
Now her feedback have formally earned her a prime Democratic challenger within the 2026 midterm election: JD Scholten, a present state consultant for Iowa.
“After her comments over the weekend, I’ve been thinking about it for a while, but that’s when I just said: This is unacceptable and you’ve gotta jump in,” Scholten informed The Gazette on Monday. “At the end of the day, though, it’s not about her, it’s not about me, it’s about the people of Iowa deserving better. I don’t think there’s anything worse that you could do than cut Medicaid, cut SNAP benefits for everyday Iowans just so you can give billionaires bigger tax breaks. That is not Iowa in my mind.”
Ernst has not apologized for her feedback, however as an alternative she’s doubled down, posting a video over the weekend to make enjoyable of people that condemned her feedback.
“I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that yes, we are all going to perish from this Earth. So I apologize. And I’m really, really glad that I did not have to bring up the subject of the tooth fairy as well,” she mentioned within the video.
However Scholten isn’t having her sarcasm, calling out her video as out of contact with what Iowans want.
“We’re taking them off [Medicaid], so billionaires can have a second yacht, so they can have a bigger tax break. We have a system that’s geared towards and favors billionaires and huge multinational corporations, and that’s not working for most of Iowa,” he informed Politico.
Although Iowa has shifted proper over the previous decade—with Trump profitable the state in each election since 2016—Ernst, who gained in each 2014 and 2020, noticed a margin of simply 6 factors within the 2020 election. That very same yr, Trump carried the state by 9 factors.
And in a “blue wave” yr like 2026 is shaping as much as be—coupled with Ernst’s newest missteps—the race could possibly be fairly aggressive.
Scholten overperformed the Republican lean in his district each in 2018 and 2020, in line with Break up Ticket knowledge. And in 2024, he gained his state Home district by 6.9%, whereas Vice President Kamala Harris misplaced it by 1.6%.
It’s trying like we gained’t wish to sleep on Iowa in 2026.
