BREAKING: Zach Lahn “Busted Living in Luxury Out of State”
Daily Beast: “With his apparent strong roots in Kansas and Montana, it remains unclear why Lahn chose Iowa to launch his political career.”
DES MOINES – A new Daily Beast investigation reveals that carpetbagger and career political operative Zach Lahn has been living in a luxurious $2 million Kansas mansion while building a multimillion-dollar real estate portfolio “hundreds of miles away from the state he wants to run, contradicting his humble farmer claims.”
Lahn “has actually been living in Kansas for years” in a “luxury mansion” with a private lake and indoor pool. Despite lying and claiming he moved to Iowa in 2023, Lahn bought his Kansas mansion in 2024 and later “transferred to an LLC in what appeared to be a move meant to hide his ownership—and true residency—as he planned to run for governor a few states over.” Lahn recently sold a “$5 million dollar … ski-in, ski-out mansion” in Whitefish, Montana in October 2025, just one month before he launched his campaign.
As Daily Beast reports, Lahn “regularly flies in and out of Wichita to attend” campaign events in Iowa — including the day he “submit[ted] his paperwork for his nomination at the State Capitol.” Lahn even “waived the Iowa Homestead Tax Credit, a sign that they do not consider the Iowa property to be their primary home.”
This comes as new polling from Emerson College found that 76% of Iowans say it’s important that a candidate has lived in Iowa for most of their adult life, and 41% say it’s very important.
From Iowa Democratic Party spokesperson Terra Hernandez:
“Every day, it’s getting harder and harder for Kansas carpetbagger and career political operative Zach Lahn to dodge questions about his frequent flights back and forth to his home in Kansas, but one thing is clear: Iowa voters don’t trust him. Iowans are facing some real challenges, and Lahn’s out-of-state lifestyle, luxury real estate portfolio, and long resume working in politics show just how out-of-touch he is with Iowa voters.”
Read more from Daily Beast here, or key points below:
- A MAGA governor hopeful has secretly been living in a multimillion-dollar mansion hundreds of miles away from the state he wants to run, contradicting his humble farmer claims.
- Zach Lahn, the Trump-endorsed candidate in the Iowa gubernatorial race, has actually been living in Kansas for years, in a $2 million mansion, not in Iowa as he claims, a Daily Beast investigation can reveal.
- In 2024, Lahn and his wife Annie … purchased their Wichita property, which he later transferred to an LLC in what appeared to be a move meant to hide his ownership—and true residency—as he planned to run for governor a few states over.
- The Kansas mansion sits on a large plot of land with a private lake. The luxurious home came equipped with an indoor pool, with one real estate outlet even calling the property “a place on Earth that was closest to heaven.”
- Lahn also owns property in Iowa, having bought his great-grandmother’s farm in his hometown of Belle Plaine, but there does not appear to be any indication that he treats this as a primary residence.
- Records reviewed by the Daily Beast indicate that he has never claimed any property in Iowa as his primary residence. When he refinanced the Iowa property in 2021, he and Annie waived the Iowa Homestead Tax Credit, a sign that they do not consider the Iowa property to be their primary home.
- Flight records also reveal that while Lahn, a licensed pilot who owns his own plane, travels to and from campaign events, he regularly flies in and out of Wichita to attend those events.
- These flights include his trip from Wichita to his “hometown” in June for a campaign event. He even flew from Wichita to Des Moines to submit his paperwork for his nomination at the State Capitol.
- Voting records also show that Lahn has voted in Kansas elections in the 2018, 2020 and 2022 cycles.
- Lahn, a graduate of the University of Colorado, worked for years in Republican politics in Colorado and Montana in his early adult life.
- They co-founded and still sit on the board of the Wonder School, an unorthodox, for-profit K-12 school in Wichita that boasts that it “doesn’t hire teachers.” Tuition currently costs $10,000 a year, and after graduation, only about a third of students go on to attend a 4-year college.
- In addition to his luxury mansion in Kansas, Lahn sold his multimillion-dollar mansion in Whitefish, Montana in October. The house, which was valued just under $5 million dollars last year, was described online as a “ski-in, ski-out mansion” that came equipped with an outdoor spa and hot tub. He still owns a plot of land on the same road.
- But with his apparent strong roots in Kansas and Montana, it remains unclear why Lahn chose Iowa to launch his political career.
- He has not publicly commented on carpetbagging accusations, and when reached for comment by the Daily Beast, his deputy campaign manager, Meg Deneen, again did not comment on Lahn’s out-of-state life.
- As it relates to the carpetbagging accusations, a recent poll from Emerson College found that 76 percent of Iowa voters said it is important that a candidate has lived in the state for most of their adult life.
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