State Rep. J.D. Scholten is used to being the underdog. New to politics in 2018, he came close to beating long-time Republican incumbent Rep. Steve King. Now, Scholten is running for the U.S. Senate. He'll compete for the Democratic nomination to run for the seat held by Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, who is up for reelection in 2026.
At the age of 45, Scholten still pitches for the minor league baseball team in Sioux City, his hometown, which he also represents in the Iowa House. He is the only elected Democrat representing northwest Iowa in the Legislature.
“On Thursday, when I was driving back from Kansas City where we had our baseball games, this was not on my radar to do this quickly,” Scholten said about announcing his Senate campaign.
Scholten said Ernst disrespected Iowans when she responded to criticism of proposed Medicaid cuts at a town hall in Parkersburg. When a person in the audience shouted out that people would die because of the changes, Ernst responded by saying "Well, we all are going to die." She later posted a sarcastic apology video on Instagram.
“I was debating whether I should do it or not. Then Friday morning, when the town hall hit and everything went on social media about her telling us that we're all going to die, my immediate reaction was, well, we don’t all have to die so billionaires can have a bigger tax break," Scholten said. “That's when the competitiveness in me got going, and I was like, game on, let’s go.”
Scholten also recently reflected on what to do while attending a funeral for friend Gary Lipshutz, a one-time activist with the Woodbury County Democrats and founder of the Sioux City Musketeers hockey team.
"We don’t all have to die so billionaires can have a bigger tax break."Rep. J.D. Scholten
“While contemplating life, as one does at a funeral, it really just came to me, this is the moment,” Scholten said.
At the memorial service, he also spoke with Iowa's former U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, who he said offered guidance and encouragement. Ernst first won her seat in the U.S. Senate when Harkin retired more than 10 years ago.
Scholten said his election results against former long-time incumbent U.S. Rep. Steve King for Iowa's 4th Congressional District seat show he can compete. King won reelection, but was later stripped of his leadership duties due to controversial comments made about white nationalism. King eventually lost in a Republican primary to current U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, who easily beat Scholten in 2020.
“I like our chances because I'm the only one who's ran for federal office,” Scholten said. “I'm the only one who's outperformed the top of the ticket in every single race I've ran. I currently represent a Trump district, and this year, 2026, is going to be similar to 2018. And in that year, I took a district Trump won by 27 and moved the needle 24 points, and we nearly knocked off King, and King is now no longer in office because of the work we've done.”
Scholten said he plans to fight for universal health care, to fix the economy and to secure democracy from billionaires and special interests.
The only other Democrat who has announced their candidacy in the Senate race is Nathan Sage, a veteran and executive director of the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce. Other potential Democratic candidates are State Sen. Zach Wahls of Coralville and State Rep. Josh Turek of Council Bluffs.
