A member of the Republican Party , Ashley Hinson is currently running for the US Senate seat in Iowa in the 2026 midterm elections. Having received endorsement from President Donald Trump for every election since 2020, Hinson has based her campaign around issues like rising prices, rural healthcare, government accountability and securing the country. She is facing Democratic candidate Josh Turek , after Republican Senator Joni Ernst refused to seek re-election.
She left her TV career in 2015 to enter the Iowa House of Representatives. After redistricting, she represented the 2nd Congressional District from 2023. In 2026, she defeated her opponent Jim Carlin in the Republican primary and entered the race to become the senator. In 2026, she joined Democratic representative Jared Golden in introducing a bill to stop government officials from immediately quitting their jobs in order to become paid lobbyists. In August 2026, she opposed his plan to increase beef imports, saying it could hurt Iowa cattle producers. She was again at the center of a controversy in September 2026.
As a staunch supporter of President Trump, she called to end the provision of “birthright citizenship”, calling it a “con”. However, people continued to criticize her, with one X user saying, “Ashley backs Trump, not Iowa farmers”. The complaint alleged that he used his connections to arrange meetings with Iowa lawmakers despite not being a registered lobbyist, leading critics to call him a “shadow lobbyist”.
Hinson began her career as a television news anchor at KCRG-TV. She later represented Iowa’s 1st Congressional District in the US House. Beyond healthcare and education, Hinson has called for reducing government spending and making elected officials more accountable. She supports banning members of Congress from trading individual stocks, arguing that lawmakers should not use their positions for personal financial gain. Hinson has also accused Turek of benefiting from outside spending, arguing that campaign finance needs greater transparency. Hinson has shown her support for stricter border security, enforcement of federal immigration laws and the deportation of immigrants who have committed violent crimes. She backed to increase the funding for border patrol agents, while raising serious concerns about fentanyl trafficking. Hinson continued to include issues like taxes, inflation and creation of jobs in her campaign. She supports small businesses, workforce training and technical education to help workers find better paying jobs. She has also backed tax relief for working families and protecting American businesses from unfair trade practices, especially from China . However, she has also criticized some trade policies by President Trump. A watchdog group called Defend the Vote, along with the Iowa Democratic Party, raised concerns about the connections of Hinson’s husband to the insurance industry. They filed an ethics complaint to investigate whether Hinson had used her position in Congress to give her husband, Matt Arenholz, special access to lawmakers. Arenholz has worked in the insurance industry and served as government affairs chair for the Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa. However, Hinson’s campaign denied these charges.
Hinson’s net worth has increased 15 times after entering Congress, according to the Iowa Democratic Party . Her 2025 financial disclosure showed assets worth $2.26 million to $8.77 million, including her husband’s stake in an insurance company.
