Jim Carlin, a Republican running for his party’s nomination for U.S. Senate, said he would stand up for President Donald Trump’s legacy and work to address what he sees as the root cause of high costs that Iowans are facing in health care, housing and higher education.
At the Westside Conservative Club in Urbandale Wednesday morning, Carlin said the government is hurting people more than it’s helping. He said businesses run the government, and that has led to monopolies that drive costs higher for middle-class Americans.
“Big government and big business got married, and the happy couple has given us the credit card bill,” Carlin said.
He said less government regulation and more free market policies would help fix that.
“I believe in free market capitalism fundamentally, and when the government facilitates monopoly control of markets, the people lose,” Carlin said. “They lose their voice. They lose their choice.”
He said the Senate should have oversight of the Federal Reserve and work to stabilize the value of the country’s money, with the goal of eventually eliminating the Federal Reserve.
Carlin also said the federal government should use anti-trust laws to break up monopolies and establish term limits for elected officials. He said he supports banning Super PACs, which can keep donors secret and spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections.
“We don’t have election integrity until we have campaign finance reform,” he said. “We have to fix that.”
Carlin is a lawyer, a former state legislator and a U.S. Army veteran who is running for the Senate for the second time. Carlin challenged Sen. Chuck Grassley in the GOP primary in 2022 and lost.
Earlier this year, he announced he would run against Sen. Joni Ernst in 2026. Ernst has since announced she would not run for reelection, and 2nd District U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson launched her campaign for Senate last month.
Trump has endorsed Hinson for Senate.
Carlin wants to preserve Trump’s legacy in office
Carlin said after the 2026 election, Trump will only have two more years in office.
He said Hinson supported former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney for a leadership position in the U.S. House after Cheney voted to impeach Trump. Hinson voted for Cheney in February 2021, and later called for Cheney to be replaced in May 2021.
He criticized Hinson for voting to certify the 2020 election results, while Carlin publicly opposed certifying former President Joe Biden’s election win.
“I think that speaks volumes about whether or not she’s going to stand up for the Trump agenda when he leaves,” he said.
Hinson has said she is running to be Trump’s top ally in the Senate.
“Ashley is proud to have earned President Trump’s endorsement and the support of Iowans across the state on her 99-county tour — she has already been to 29 counties and isn’t slowing down,” a Hinson campaign spokesperson said. “Ashley is proud to fight for, and deliver on, the America First agenda and is honored to have the opportunity to serve Iowans in the Senate.”
When asked about Trump’s endorsement of Hinson, Carlin said Trump has a lot on his mind right now.
“Frankly, I love the work that he’s done, but I also know that some of the realities of his job put him in a position where he has to rely on the opinions of other people,” he said. “And I don’t know that if he had the benefit of the information I presented here today, that he’d come to the same conclusion.”
Carlin says he’d be willing to vote to end the filibuster
As the federal government shutdown continues, Carlin said he would support ending the filibuster, which has effectively created a 60-vote threshold to pass bills in the Senate. The move would allow Republicans to fund the government without support from Democrats.
“If you reach an impasse where there’s no reasonable outcome, that’s politically palatable, that’s really going to serve the American people — sometimes you have to go that route,” he said. “I don’t know if we’re quite there yet, but that is something I personally would be looking at considering, and honestly, I’d be willing to do it.”
