BREAKING: “Rep. Ashley Hinson’s Husband ‘Arranged’ a Meeting Between Lobbyists and Iowa Lawmakers — Including His Wife”
DES MOINES – A breaking report from NOTUS this morning reveals Ashley Hinson and her husband, Matt Arenholz, used her position of power to grant her husband’s insurance lobbying group access to the Iowa Congressional delegation.
Arenholz, who holds a “government affairs post at a leading insurance industry lobbying group,” 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 Arenholz’s 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 private 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 was helping his insurance group gain access to Hinson and DC powerbrokers.
Missed the report? See below for more key highlights:
- 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.
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