Ashley Hinson’s Senate Campaign in “Panic” Mode With “Iowa Becoming a Real Problem for GOP” Due to Hinson’s Seven Votes to Continue Iran War
In This Week’s Edition of the Ashley Accountability Alert, Hinson Comes Under Fire from Iowans for Voting Seven Times to Continue the War Iran as New Reporting Shows She Took Hundreds of Thousands from Big Oil Donors Profiting Off the War
DES MOINES – This week, Ashley Hinson may have dodged local reporters, but she couldn’t run away from a week of bad headlines after she voted a seventh time to continue the war in Iran.
While Hinson tweeted through the “panic” as her “team has grown increasingly wary of the tight race,” Iowa farmers, veterans, and even a Republican fed up with “record diesel prices,” “surg[ing]” gas costs, fertilizer prices “near peak levels,” and inflation higher than the national average, continued the “Hinson’s Gain, Iowa’s Pain” statewide tour to hold Hinson accountable.
Meanwhile, a new report from MeidasTouch News revealed that Ashley Hinson raked in hundreds of thousands from Big Oil donors as those companies are reporting “their highest level [of profits] in years.”
But that was just the beginning of a miserable week for Ashley Hinson…
- First, Iowans came together in Sioux City to continue the “Hinson’s Gain, Iowa’s Pain” statewide tour by calling out Hinson for voting seven times to continue the war in Iran.
- It came after she hit the panic button this week and suddenly tried (and failed) to distract Iowans from her votes supporting the war after multiple polls showed her losing.
- “Ashley Hinson’s priority is herself,” Corey Davis, the president of Communication Workers of America Local 7103, said. “It’s plain and simple. While we are literally paying the price for high gas, diesel, healthcare, Ashley’s gaining.”
- Then, a new report from MeidasTouch News uncovered that Ashley Hinson had taken in more than $217,000 in campaign donations from Big Oil, including $38,500 since the start of the Iran War.
- Hinson’s Big Oil donors, including Chevron and ExxonMobil, reported earning profits of $12-$15 billion in the last quarter while Iowans are left paying 60% more for gas since the start of the war.
- Next, as if Hinson’s week couldn’t get any worse, she ran away from reporters and “refused” to take questions from local press about her support for the largest Medicaid cuts in history and her attempt to hide her seven votes to continue the war in Iran.
- The report called Hinson’s seventh vote last week to continue the war in Iran and her desperate statements to hide her longtime support for the conflict, a “strategy shift” that “comes as a new Marist University poll this week shows Hinson trailing Democrat Josh Turek by eight points.” The report also highlighted that Hinson visited a healthcare clinic where Hinson’s votes in Washington “could cost [the] center more than $1 million in funding,” with the CEO adding that he has “big concerns.”
- What’s more, a local Republican, farmers, and veterans continued the “Hinson’s Gain, Iowa’s Pain” statewide tour in Davenport and condemned Ashley Hinson for raising their gas, diesel, and grocery costs by voting seven times to continue the Iran War.
- John Whitaker, Henry County Farmer: “Ashley Hinson may now be calling on the president to end this war. Well, talk is cheap, but diesel fuel isn’t.”
- To round out the week, Hinson was hit with an ethics complaint calling on the U.S. House of Congressional Conduct to immediately investigate Hinson for appearing to violate House Ethics rules by helping her husband shadow lobby her and the Iowa congressional delegation.
- The complaint comes after a report from the Washington Sun revealed Ashley Hinson’s husband, Matt 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.
See What Iowans Were Seeing and Reading This Week:
MeidasTouch News: Ashley Hinson got big money from oil companies after repeatedly voting for the Iran War
- Iowa Republican Representative and candidate for U.S. Senate Ashley Hinson voted against ending the Iran war seven times after taking over $217,000 in donations from oil and gas companies, including $38,500 from the oil and gas industry since the start of the war in February. Major companies like Chevron and ExxonMobil have seen record profits, while the price of gas in Iowa has risen $1.55, or 60%, since the start of the Iran war.
- From 2019 until 2026, Hinson accepted over $217,000 in donations from oil and gas industry companies and aligned PACs, including from Chevron, ExxonMobil, Valero, and the Koch brothers.
- Chevron and ExxonMobil reported earning billions more over the previous quarter of 2026 —their “highest level [of profits] in years” — driven by the war in Iran. ExxonMobil reported earning almost $15 billion last quarter, doubling their earnings from the same quarter last year. Chevron reported earning $12 billion last quarter, $10 billion more than the same quarter last year, as the war in Iran caused gas prices to skyrocket globally.
- An analysis from The Guardian found that “eight oil producers made almost $93 Billion in the first three months [of the war] to the end of June — the first full financial quarter after the US-Israeli war on Iran triggered a surge in global oil prices to highs above $126 a barrel. The data suggests the eight oil companies — Aramco, BP, Shell, Equinor, TotalEnergies, Eni, Chevron and ExxonMobil — made more than $700,000 of profit every minute over the spring quarter.”
KCRG:
- Anchor: A visit to Dubuque today for republican Ashley Hinson showcased a strategy shift in her campaign for Iowa’s U.S. Senate Seat.
- Anchor: It comes as polls show a tightening race.
- Reporter: One of those challenges comes from Medicaid funding cuts under President Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Act that Hinson helped pass. With 60% of its patients on Medicaid, Crescent [Community Health Care] CEO Chad Wolbers said it could cost his center more than $1 million in funding.
- Chad Wolbers, CEO of Crescent Community Health Care: I do have big concerns as I’ve shared previously about Medicaid funding.
- Reporter: We asked Hinson’s team for an interview after the roundtable to ask about those Medicaid concerns. They refused.
- Reporter: Just last week, Hinson voted against a War Powers Resolution calling for President Trump to halt the Iran War. But this week on social media, she called for, quote, an immediate end to the war to lower gas prices.
- Reporter: Hinson’s shift comes as a new marist university poll this week shows Hinson trailing Democrat Josh Turek by eight points. And the Cook Political Report calls the race a toss up.
- Josh Turek: Iowans will never forget that when Hinson had the chance to vote to end the war, she chose not to. Unlike Ashley Hinson, I will do everything I can to end these forever wars and put Iowa and Iowans first.
WQAD:
- Reporter: “Iowa Democrats are criticizing Republican Senate candidate Ashley Hinson over her position on the war in Iran. […] At a news conference in Davenport, Democrats were joined by farmers and a veteran who criticized Hinson’s previous votes against measures to restrict U.S. military involvement. Hinson voting against the most recent House resolution last week, but on Monday called for an end to the war.
- John Whitaker, Henry County Farmer: “Ashley Hinson may now be calling on the president to end this war. Well, talk is cheap, but diesel fuel isn’t.”
The Gazette: Hinson calls for ‘immediate end’ to Iran War while opposing effort to halt U.S. involvement
- Iowa U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson is calling for an “immediate end” to the war with Iran and urging Congress to return to Washington to address soaring fuel costs, even as she continues to oppose congressional efforts to force President Donald Trump to halt U.S. military involvement.
- The national average price for diesel climbed above $6.50 per gallon this week, a record, while Iowa diesel prices reached about $6.31 per gallon. Regular gasoline in Iowa was about $4.34 per gallon Wednesday, compared with $2.92 a year earlier, according to AAA data.
- Hinson’s call for the conflict to end comes after she repeatedly voted against resolutions that sought to restrict Trump’s ability to continue military operations in Iran. Most recently, Hinson voted last week against a War Powers resolution directing Trump to remove U.S. forces from hostilities.
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