RECAP: Iowa Leaders Spotlighted Hinson’s Corrupt Behavior in Davenport After Bombshell Report Revealed Her Husband Used Shadow Lobby Role to Help His Insurance Group Gain Access to Iowa Lawmakers
NOTUS: “Rep. Ashley Hinson’s Husband ‘Arranged’ a Meeting Between Lobbyists and Iowa Lawmakers – Including His Wife”
Iowa Starting Line: “Financial Disclosures and New Reporting Show [Hinson’s] Own Household Has Spent Years Embedded in the Insurance Industry’s Lobby Machine.”
You Can Find Video of the Press Conference HERE
DES MOINES – Today in Davenport, local Iowa leaders gathered outside the U.S. District Courthouse to call out Ashley Hinson’s corrupt behavior following the release of the bombshell report that found Hinson and her husband reportedly used her position of power to grant her husband’s insurance lobbying group access to the Iowa congressional delegation.
Key context: Hinson’s husband, who holds a “government affairs post at a leading insurance industry lobbying group,” reportedly used his post to “gain access to Hinson and other Iowa lawmakers” and “blur the lines” as a shadow lobbyist.
The “expansive national insurance […] lobbying group” related to his organization “has spent more than $5 million lobbying the federal government since Hinson was elected,” as Hinson and her husband hold a “significant stake in the insurance sector” through insurance stock worth up to $5 million.
Meanwhile, the national insurance group’s PAC contributed more than $67,000 to Hinson’s campaign and PACs over the years as her husband
“One thing we know: if there’s a loophole, Ashley doesn’t close it, she widens it and she uses it,” said State Representative Monica Kurth, member of the Iowa House Ethics Committee. “In the Iowa House, I sit on the Ethics Committee. We are often tasked with investigating corrupt behavior. We demand transparency, and that’s what I and my colleagues here are demanding from Ashley Hinson. In the meantime, I’m more than ready to turn the page on Hinson, to put Iowa back in the hands of someone who will fight special interests, not profit from them.”
“This latest report shows [Ashley Hinson’s] willingness to blur lines of what is ethical to benefit herself at our expense,” said Simplice Kuelo, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 431 President. “She could have used her six years in Congress to help deliver jobs, opportunities, or raise wages, but instead it appears that according to this report, she was in meetings that her husband arranged with insurance industry lobbyists. The same industry group’s PAC gave tens of thousands of dollars to Ashley Hinson’s campaign. Any Iowan knows all of this appears fishy.”
“We’re here today, standing outside the Federal District Courthouse in Davenport. It’s time for Ashley Hinson’s corrupt, self-dealing behavior to meet some accountability,” said Adam Peters, candidate for State House District 97. “The latest reporting about Hinson and her husband leveraging her office for his insurance lobbyist buddies is alarming […] The shadowy, shady role Hinson’s husband played as a pseudo lobbyist, the campaign donations exchanging from hands between insurance PACs and Hinson’s own campaign, and the millions spent lobbying Hinson and other lawmakers-all of this demands more investigation.”
Read Here for More Details on Her Husband’s Shadow Lobbying:
- Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ashley Hinson, a congresswoman pitching herself as a warrior against special interests in Iowa, and her husband, Matt Arenholz, have deep ties to the insurance industry, with Arenholz owning millions worth of interest in a private equity-backed brokerage.
- Documents reviewed by NOTUS reveal Arenholz also held a government affairs post at a leading insurance industry lobbying group, which has not been previously reported. He helped arrange meetings with Hinson and other Iowa congressional delegation members, the documents indicate.
- Arenholz, a longtime insurance executive, chaired the government affairs committee for an Iowa branch of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, an expansive national insurance trade association and lobbying group. Magazines published by the organization and reviewed by NOTUS reveal that officials at the insurance industry group credited Arenholz for helping them gain access to Hinson and other Iowa lawmakers.
- Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Revolving Door Project, a watchdog organization that tracks lobbying and political influence trends, told NOTUS that Arenholz’s position “blurs the line.”
- “No one’s saying that if your significant other gets elected to Congress, you have got to stop being in insurance,” Hauser said. “Then you tell me he’s involved in government affairs, right off the bat that’s not normal. Most people don’t do government affairs work.”
- InsurePAC, the political action committee of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, has supported Hinson throughout her congressional career.
- Over the years, the PAC contributed a total of more than $67,000 to Hinson’s campaign and PACs affiliated with the Iowa Republican, according to data from the Federal Election Commission.
- Separately, the national group has spent more than $5 million lobbying the federal government since Hinson was elected in 2020, according to Lobbying Disclosure Act reports.
- Hinson’s annual personal financial disclosures reveal Arenholz retains a significant stake in the insurance sector. Hinson reported in 2025 that Arenholz held between $1 million and $5 million in High Street Insurance Partners, a large private equity-backed insurance brokerage. In 2021, Hinson reported that Arenholz sold interest in a private insurance company for over $1 million.
Iowa Starting Line: Report: Hinson’s husband arranges meetings between Iowa delegation and insurance lobby
- US Rep. Ashley Hinson argues she’s going after special interests in Washington DC. But financial disclosures and new reporting show her own household has spent years embedded in the insurance industry’s lobbying machine. And not only has her family’s stake in the industry grown her household’s personal fortune, the same actors have funded her campaigns.
- New reporting from NOTUS found that Hinson’s husband, Matt Arenholz, held a government affairs post at a leading insurance industry lobbying group, which has not been previously reported. He helped arrange meetings with Hinson and other Iowa congressional delegation members.
- The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America has spent $6.8 million lobbying Congress since Hinson was first elected in 2020, according to OpenSecrets, and the group’s political action committee, InsurePAC, has pumped more than $67,500 into Hinson’s campaign accounts over the years.
- The Hinson campaign did not respond to emailed questions for this story.
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