U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly said the battle for control of Congress runs through Iowa in 2026 — but he declined to weigh in on whether Iowa should be one of the early nominating states in 2028.
Kelly spent the day at the Iowa State Fair on Friday, Aug. 14, flipping pork chops and playing carnival games with Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Josh Turek after headlining the Iowa Democratic Wing Ding fundraiser in Clear Lake the night before.
The former NASA astronaut, U.S. Navy combat veteran and Democratic senator from Arizona is considering running for president in 2028, but said Friday, “I haven’t made a decision yet.”
In an interview while walking the Iowa State Fairgrounds, Kelly declined to say if Iowa should regain its place among the early nominating states after its first-in-the-nation status was stripped by the Democratic National Committee.
“It’s not a decision for the people running,” he said. “It’s a decision for the people who vote as a member of the DNC. So, you know, that’s out of our hands.”
The DNC is also implementing new sanctions for states that hold a rogue nominating contest in defiance of the committee’s approved 2028 calendar that begins with South Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Michigan and Virginia.
Under new rules approved by the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee, the DNC would not seat any of a rogue state’s delegates to the national convention and impose a $270,000 fine.
It would also block candidates campaigning in unauthorized states from appearing in DNC-approved debates and prevent them from earning delegates from any early state, not just the one in which they campaigned.
Asked if he believes the Democratic National Committee should be discouraging candidates from campaigning in states like Iowa that won’t be part of the early nominating window, Kelly said “people should go where they feel it’s best.”
“If they’re running for higher office and they feel like they should be in Iowa, they should go to Iowa,” he said. “So, I like coming to Iowa.”
Kelly, dressed in jeans, a black polo and a camouflage Navy baseball cap, strolled the fairgrounds with Turek, followed by a pack of reporters.
The two shot hoops at the Short Stuff basketball carnival game, where Turek — a gold medal-winning Paralympian in wheelchair basketball — won an Iowa State basketball, which he gave to Kelly.
“Josh Turek, you know, he’s got a real opportunity,” Kelly said. “And if we’re going to win control of the Senate and the House, it kind of runs through — I mean, you could say one of the places that it runs through is right here.”
“But I do think it often takes some time for people to realize it,” he added. “Because Iowa’s just been so solidly a red state for such a long time. Sort of like Arizona, right?”
Arizona, long a conservative stronghold, now has a Democratic governor, secretary of state, attorney general and two U.S. Senators, including Kelly.
Iowa has the chance for a political shift as well, Kelly said, with Turek, gubernatorial nominee Rob Sand, and three of the state’s four congressional races expected to be competitive.
“There’s not many election cycles where you have this kind of opportunity, you know, in a state like this, but this does seem to be, like, a wave election kind of environment,” he said.
Next, Kelly is heading to Kansas City, Kansas to headline the Johnson County Democratic Party’s annual fundraiser.
Kelly’s White House aspirations brought a higher level of scrutiny to his Iowa State Fair visit. A group of Turning Point USA activists chased Kelly and Turek through the fairgrounds, booing him and yelling “nobody wants you in Iowa.”
The group held up signs criticizing Kelly, including one that said, “Out of orbit, out of touch,” above a picture of Kelly in a spacesuit.
“I like it when they put me in a spacesuit,” he said, turning to speak to the activists. “Thank you. Thank you for the space suit. I appreciate it.”
Several other fairgoers stopped Kelly to thank him for his service, and for his visit to the state.
“Thanks for coming to Iowa and thank you for your service as an astronaut,” one woman said to Kelly. “You are an inspiration to a lot of people.”
Des Moines Register Chief Politics Reporter Brianne Pfannenstiel contributed to this report.
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: Sen. Mark Kelly, at the Iowa State Fair, wants to talk 2026 — not 2028
Reporting by Stephen Gruber-Miller, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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By Stephen Gruber-Miller, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
