State Newsmakers
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New refugee story project aims to bring Iowa’s overlooked immigrant communities into focus
Common Thread Iowa will cover the state’s refugee and immigrant communities — populations its founders say are bigger, and more overlooked, than most Iowans realize.
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Hinson says clinic closure talk is ‘lying by omission.’ State records tell another story
Ashley Hinson accused her critics of “lying by omission” about healthcare clinic closures. Then we checked what she left out.
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Trump’s push for ID has nothing to do with the election threats Iowa faces
Register to vote, check your registration status, and understand the actual threats to election security heading into 2026. Link in the bio for our voter registration guide. Read the full story on Iowa Starting Line.
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Ashley Hinson fought for a tax break that benefits her own fortune
Records show a major Iowa Republican and millionaire Ashley Hinson has benefitted directly from tax changes she has championed.
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Sand announces 100 Iowa Republicans backing his governor bid
“I don’t know Zach Lahn from a hill of beans,” said one of the more than 100 Republicans now backing the Democratic nominee.
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Zach Nunn wanted a Libertarian off the ballot. Here’s what his campaign did about it
A Nunn campaign operative warned Libertarian candidate Marco Battaglia to withdraw or face “legal action.” Eight days later, she filed the challenge that knocked him off the November ballot.
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Hinson took $7K from Kalshi CEO while leading anti-prediction market crusade in Congress
Iowa’s Republican Senate nominee sponsored legislation to crack down on political betting markets. Campaign finance records show she accepted a maximum contribution from the CEO of one of the country’s biggest prediction market companies.
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Rob Sand picks western Iowa farmer as his lieutenant governor running mate
Democratic governor nominee Rob Sand has chosen Crawford County Supervisor Dave Muhlbauer, a fifth-generation farmer and cattleman from western Iowa, as his running mate. A pick to bridge the rural divide.
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Meet Zach Lahn: a Koch-connected political operative running for Iowa governor
Iowa’s new Republican nominee for governor Zach Lahn campaigned as an outsider farmer fighting the political establishment. But before he was “Iowa First,” he was a Koch-connected political operative who blocked Medicaid expansion in Montana, co-founded a Koch-funded private school in Kansas, and barely met Iowa’s residency requirement to run. A look at his resume.
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Reynolds-connected lobbyist recruited paid attendees for JD Vance’s Iowa rally on behalf of ‘an ethanol company’
An Iowa lobbyist was caught offering $100 cash payments—plus referral bonuses—to pack JD Vance’s Des Moines rally this week.
