What They’re Reading: Iowans Are Reading All About How Ashley Hinson’s Campaign “Hits Turbulence as Husband’s Curious Dealings Draw Watchdog’s Eye”
Tyler Jett, Des Moines Register Investigative Reporter: “Being Married to Someone Who Lobbies for Insurance Agents and Owns a Brokerage […] Certainly Complicates That Promise [to Fight Big Insurance Companies]”
Iowa Starting Line: “Financial Disclosures and New Reporting Show [Hinson’s] Own Household Has Spent Years Embedded in the Insurance Industry’s Lobbying Machine”
DES MOINES – A new report from NOTUS yesterday has put Ashley Hinson under the spotlight as Iowans question her pitch that she’s taking on big insurance companies when previously unreported records reveal Hinson and her husband have been using her office to give his insurance lobbying group access to the entire Iowa Congressional delegation.
Hinson’s husband, who holds a “government affairs post at a leading insurance industry lobbying group,” was shown to use 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 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.
Read What They’re Reading:
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.
Tyler Jett, Des Moines Register Investigative Reporter:
- Being married to someone who lobbies for insurance agents and owns a brokerage isn’t necessarily at odds with a promise to fight big insurance companies. BUT it certainly complicates that promise.
Eric Garcia, DC Bureau Chief for the Independent:
- #IASen news: Ashley Hinson’s husband set up a meeting between lobbyists and Iowa lawmakers, including Hinson. Good @stephehn_neukam scoop.
- Hypocritical Ashley Hinson has sold herself on taking on special interests and lowering health care costs. Meanwhile, she and her husband have deep ties to the insurance industry.
Raw Story: Republican’s Senate run hits turbulence as husband’s curious dealings draw watchdog’s eye
- The husband of a GOP candidate running for a Senate seat is being scrutinized for setting up meetings with lobbyists representing an industry that puts money in his pocket.
- According to a report by NOTUS, eyebrows are being raised after an insurance industry executive admitted in a trade magazine that the husband of Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) has been a reliable conduit to accessing lawmakers.
- While Hinson has built her U.S. Senate campaign around “fighting special interests,” her husband’s ties to the insurance industry are raising questions about access.
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