RECAP: Ottumwa Leaders, Farmer Call Out Ashley Hinson for Voting 7x to Continue Iran War
OTTUMWA – Today in Ottumwa, local leaders, a farmer, and a paramedic came together to call out Ashley Hinson for raising their gas, diesel, and grocery costs by voting seven times to continue the Iran War and cutting rural healthcare.
Today’s event continues the “Hinson’s Gain, Iowa’s Pain” statewide tour and follows Hinson releasing a desperate statement last week trying (and failing) to hide her seven votes to support the war after multiple polls have shown her losing the Senate race.
Key context: Prior to recessing from Congress early, Hinson cast her seventh vote to continue the war in Iran as it devastates Iowa with “record diesel prices,” “surg[ing]” gas costs, fertilizer prices “near peak levels,” and inflation higher than the national average. She has repeatedly defended the war in Iran and downplayed the impact on Iowans, despite admitting in private that it’s becoming a “political liability.” She has raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars from Big Oil, and now those companies are seeing record profits up to $14 billion from the Iran war.
The costs from the war come on top of her votes to cut healthcare for 110,000 Iowans and make it more expensive for 119,000 Iowans – all while she has increased her wealth by up to 15x since getting to Congress.
“We’re here today to continue the ‘Hinson’s Gain, Iowa’s Pain Tour’ because nowhere is that message more true than in Ottumwa,” said Rick Johnson, former Mayor of Ottumwa. “In the last year, multiple health centers have closed or reduced their services in and around Ottumwa following Ashley Hinson’s vote for the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill,’ which made the largest cuts in Medicaid history. You can see it impact our area of the state very much because these two southern tiers of counties in Iowa have always been known as the poverty belt of Iowa, and in the last year, we’ve had several clinics in our area close.”
“Actions prove who a person is. Words just prove who they pretend to be,” said John Whitaker, Henry County Farmer. “As we look at what is happening in agriculture, and particularly the cost of diesel fuel right now, I think of one thing: Ashley Hinson has voted no seven times on the War Powers Act resolutions. That’s seven times she’s had the opportunity to put a stop to the war in Iran.”
“What I would like to say to Ashley Hinson is walk a mile in my shoes,” said Mary Stewart, former educator in Ottumwa forced to travel farther for medical care after a stroke. “Do you have to wait three to four weeks for an appointment with a primary care physician? Do you have to travel miles on end to see a specialty person? […] Ashley Hinson is doing nothing for the people in the state of Iowa.”
“I’m here today to kind of suggest what I see as a clear path forward, a path of honesty and integrity. Something, in my opinion, Ashley Hinson has decided not to take,” said Kolton Jones, Candidate for HD-25 and EMT paramedic. “So, currently in the state of Iowa – in the country as a whole – especially in rural Iowa, we have a crisis going on. We have several crises going on. We have a healthcare crisis, education crisis, and currently we’re seeing increased gas prices. All of these things are really hitting rural Iowa the hardest. Iowa, I believe, has had the largest increase state-wise for gas prices, and Ashley Hinson is kind of at the center of all of this.”
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