Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Zach Wahls, center, speaks with a group gathered for a campaign stop at El Cerrito restaurant in Tama on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. PHOTO BY BERLEEN WOBETER

TAMA – Zach Wahls, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, and his staff succeeded in making a cold snowy day in January feel friendly and family-like as 22 guests were invited to sit with him around a table on Jan. 17 for a campaign stop at El Cerrito restaurant in Tama. Wahls asked for introductions and later proved his skill at recall when he addressed folks by name during a Q&A.

Wahls is one of three Democrats running to fill the senate seat currently held by retiring Republican Sen. Joni Ernst. The Democratic winner in the June 2, 2026, primary election will likely face off against current U.S. Representative Ashley Hinson, the GOP frontrunner.

Wahls expressed a sense of urgency and deep knowledge of the most concerning issues facing Iowans during his comments. His message was about affordability, fairness, education, and fighting political corruption, issues he sees and hears about repeatedly as he travels the state for his campaign. He knows the number of days he has left to do the work necessary for an election win.

Wahls was working towards a degree in engineering when his plans were interrupted by a now-viral speech he gave in front of the Iowa House in 2011. He addressed the House and asked for fairness and equality for his family and families like his. He said he was not asking for special consideration, rather an understanding that his family with two mothers, was a family formed of commitment to each other, as are all families.

This experience led him to run for and win election to the Iowa Senate, where he is now serving his second term. Much like his earlier speech experience, Wahls approaches his campaign by addressing priority issues, speaking out with honesty and conviction and believing the votes will follow if his message resonates with listeners. For him, victory is about the opportunity to service and represent his voters and not enrich himself. He outlined a list of priorities to impede members of Congress from getting rich while in office, including reasonable term limits. He will restrict himself to serving only two terms if elected.

While Wahls’ approach is to concentrate on his constituents and their issues first, he outlined what he considers to be the focus of his likely opponent, Rep. Hinson. He shared a story about working across the aisle in state government to pass legislation to prevent unreasonable rent hikes of up to 70% when out-of-state investors buy mobile home parks in the state. With his help, the legislation passed out of the Iowa Senate with a 48-0 vote. In the Iowa House, it stalled.

He blamed then-state Rep. Hinson for stopping the legislation because a $1,500 payment to her from a lobbyist representing the investors was more important than the welfare of the renters. He continued on to describe her as one of the “swamp creatures” who currently enriches herself by accepting large amounts of money from insurance and pharmaceutical companies. He believes Hinson is more responsive to her corporate donors than her voters.

“There is no short cut to hard work, you can’t fake showing up. You deserve a senator who works as hard as you do,” he said.

Wahls is not accepting corporate Political Action Committee (PAC) money and relies on grassroots support. He would work to overturn “Citizens United,” a Supreme Court decision that allows corporate donors to invest unlimited amounts of money into political campaigns.

Throughout his comments he touched on the following list of priorities. He wants to see a farm bill passed to support farmers hurt by tariffs. A bill that works for Iowans instead of making Iowans work for “big business.”

Wahls is focused on Iowa’s water quality crisis, cancer rates, cuts to Medicaid, attacks on public education and teachers. He spoke about the rising unaffordability of childcare, mortgages, medicine, groceries, higher education and energy costs. He would work on women’s healthcare and reproductive rights.

Wahls has concerns with the growing partisanship of the U.S. Supreme Court and outlined his solutions. He has a three-point plan to shore-up Social Security. He is done with the culture wars and the discrimination of minority groups. He says this is not a “fight about Right versus Left, but right versus wrong.”

During the Q and A, he was asked how he would, in fact, make these things happen when so many others have failed.

“I strive to work across the aisle with moderates from the other party who share his same concerns and goals,” he said, pointing to his approach in getting things done in the Iowa Senate and the examples he gave throughout his comments.

Wahls said he approaches his work with a fierceness grounded in his own lived experience. He knows bad things happen to good people. His mother has MS and his other mother was laid off during the “Great Recession.” He is willingly running without being the preferred candidate of the national Democratic party and willing to question the leadership of his own party in Washington, D.C. and their failures.

His closing story about a Republican in Wright County giving him a donation, completing his goal of getting a donation from all 99 counties, seems to illustrate his campaign message. He will get the support he needs to win if he works hard enough and his message connects with voters, no matter their party affiliation. He says he sees this happening as he campaigns across the state.