Democrat Kathryn Dolter enters the race in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District

After two decades on active duty in the U.S Army and time as a staff nurse, Dolter pursued a career as an educator.

Now, in what she calls "semi-retirement" — Dolter is a nursing program coordinator at Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids— she says she wants to use that expertise to help Iowans in the district.

“I just said, ‘It’s time to do something,’” Dolter recalled. “I’ve advocated for patients and students, and so I want to apply for the job in the 2nd District to advocate for Iowans, for their health, safety and economic welfare. Because we’ve got to flip the House to stop the Republican machine.”

Dolter pilloried President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" that recently passed Congress, saying the $50 billion it earmarked for rural hospitals won’t be enough to lift them out of the water after Medicaid cuts force them to close.

“For all hospitals, a major portion of their bottom line is Medicaid payments,” Dolter said. “If Medicaid is cut, then all hospital bottom lines are going to hurt, and it’s going to impact nursing homes. Medicaid cuts for women are really going to hurt because of increasing maternal mortality, and we know that rural maternal mortality is higher.”

So far, Dolter is the only Democrat running in the district after Kevin Techau announced in late June he would be suspending his campaign due to low funds.

The 2nd District seat is currently held by Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson, who has not yet said whether she will run for reelection in 2026.

“I was worried about the recent federal policies that are being endorsed by Rep. Hinson that will hurt the health, safety and economic welfare of all Americans,” Dolter said about her decision to run. “And I think that we need someone more responsive to everyday Iowa constituents.”

Dolter also decried federal cuts to SNAP, research and immunization programs — all of which have come under the Trump administration’s fire in recent months.

But she said she has a vision for an improved health care system that makes childrearing less burdensome. Dolter said this is a key aspect of why Americans have shorter lifespans and more chronic disease than other wealthy nations.

“You want people to have babies, then pay for child care. Pay for health care. Pay for heath care for women,” Dolter said. “United States — highest infant mortality rate, highest maternal mortality rate of any high-income country. We spend two or three times more money per person in America than any other high-income country.”

Although she personally opposes abortion, Dolter believes women should be able to choose whether to get one.

“If people are pro-life, they need to put their money where their mouth is and then pay if the number one reason people choose to have abortions is because of life circumstances,” Dolter said.

She also said she supports the idea of universal health care. She believes a first step in that direction would be to expand Medicaid to make women and children automatically eligible.

“We’ve got one out of every 10 babies ending up in the NICU, which is a huge amount of money,” Dolter said. “If we could just do good prevention and prenatal care right, and keep people healthy prior to getting pregnant, we wouldn’t have such a big bill. The most expensive thing in a hospital is a NICU baby.”

Dolter said she changed her political affiliation to Democrat from Independent last year.

“I’ve always pretty much voted Democratic,” she said. “But if there was a good Republican, I would vote for that person.”

She has since become involved with the Dubuque County Democratic Party and Indivisible, the group responsible for the “No Kings” protests in June. But Dolter said Republicans should still vote for her due to her positions on health care.

“[If] you want better health care, a better economy, a better education, I think you need to look at the choices and say, ‘Is this hurting me?’” Dolter said. “If I’m being hurt, then maybe there needs to be a change.”