RECAP: Ahead of Senate Debate, Local Leaders and Farmer Call Out Ashley Hinson’s Corruption That is Raising Costs After She Voted 7x to Continue Iran War
DES MOINES – Today in Des Moines, local leaders and a farmer set the stage for tonight’s Senate debate by gathering to spotlight the impact Ashley Hinson’s corruption and her seven votes to continue the war in Iran are having on Iowa.
Today’s event continues the “Hinson’s Gain, Iowa’s Pain” statewide tour and comes after multiple polls – including one this morning from USA Today – have shown Hinson 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 are among the Iowans that you’re going to be hearing about later tonight that are feeling the pain of Hinson’s recent votes, and the way I like to look at it is just kind of run them down,” said Nathan Sage, former Iowa U.S. Senate candidate. “What has Ashley Hinson voted for? She voted seven times to keep the Iran war, which is causing our gas prices to go higher, our food prices to go higher – almost all of our prices to go higher. She’s also voted five times to keep these chaotic tariffs in place because at the end of the day Ashley Hinson doesn’t give a crap about any of us. She cares about the donors that are giving her money.”
“Hinson’s voted seven times to continue this war with Iran. Seven times she’s voted against the interest of Iowa farmers and Iowa families,” said Ryan Marquardt, Madison County farmer. “We’ve heard this phrase, this war is a little out of sight and out of mind. It’s not out of sight and out of mind to farmers when we go and fill up or when we go and we get the bill for receiving fuel. It’s right there in your face.”
“The reason I ended up running was the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill,’” said Zach Mecham, SD-19 candidate who relies on Medicaid for their care. “Now, undoubtedly, because Ashley Hinson is an excellent D.C. politician, she will spin the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ as a success, and she will downplay the devastating effects on Medicaid recipients and the rural communities and hospitals that rely on that income. […] At the end of the day, I care about this stuff because I rely every day on Medicaid. I would not be here with you today, if it weren’t for the personal attendants that got me out of bed, if it weren’t for this wheelchair, which was covered in part by Medicaid.”
“I know the feeling of the waiting room before a scan, before a test, before a biopsy, and the dread of waiting for results from the medical team, and that pit in your stomach that comes with a diagnosis, and when the only question left is: what now?” said Sarah McGriff, Iowa mom born and raised in New Sharon. “This is the story that I tried to share with Ashley Hinson. I tried to talk to her at the state fair. I tried to contact her office. I looked at her scheduled events and tried to see when she was holding a town hall so we could speak. In my search, I discovered that she hasn’t held a single town hall since she launched her Senate campaign. […] Her disregard for my family is wrong, but her willful attempt to adopt the struggle of everyday working Iowans as a political prop so she can pretend to be one of us is reprehensible.”
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