A super PAC aligned with Senate Democrats is planning to spend $13.4 million in Iowa as the party seeks to flip the state’s open U.S. Senate seat.
Senate Majority PAC said May 14 it will spend the money on television ads this fall targeting Republican frontrunner U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson. The group also is planning a separate digital advertising campaign but did not say how much it would spend on that effort.
Hinson, who represents northeast Iowa’s 2nd District in Congress, is heavily favored in the June 2 Republican primary over former state Sen. Jim Carlin.
Senate Majority PAC said its ads would focus on Hinson’s support for President Donald Trump’s tariffs as well as her vote for the “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” which will cut Medicaid spending by more than $900 billion over a decade, as well as cutting taxes on tips, overtime pay and more.
“Ashley Hinson had four years and one job: Fight for Iowa. Instead, she spent every vote auditioning for Donald Trump,” Senate Majority PAC spokesperson Lauren French said in a statement. “Iowans can’t afford her loyalty to the powerful, the corrupt, and corporations — and they won’t forget it. This November, the bill will come due.”
The announcement means both Democrats and Republicans will spend at least eight figures in Iowa’s U.S. Senate race — the state’s first open contest since 2014 with the retirement of U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst.
The Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC dedicated to electing Republicans to the U.S. Senate, said in April that it would spend $29 million in Iowa to support Hinson’s campaign.
State Rep. Josh Turek, D-Council Bluffs, and state Sen. Zach Wahls, D-Coralville, are competing for the Democratic nomination. The winner will take on the Republican nominee.
Early voting for the primary is underway.
Stephen Gruber-Miller is the Capitol bureau chief for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com, by phone at 515-284-8169 or on X at @sgrubermiller.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: National Democrats to spend $13M targeting Hinson in Iowa Senate race
Reporting by Stephen Gruber-Miller, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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