Zach Lahn launched his campaign for Iowa governor Thursday, making him the fifth Republican to officially join the race.
Lahn said he is his “own biggest donor” who “can’t be bought.” In a news release, he said his “Iowa First” agenda will be focused on keeping Iowan land in Iowan hands, “making Iowa healthy again,” supporting families and preventing abortions.
“The people who built Iowa are being pushed aside by greed and corruption,” Lahn said. “Big ag and big pharma have rigged the system against farmers and poisoned our families for generations. When I’m governor, we’ll sue them, break up their monopolies and make them answer for what they’ve done to Iowa.”
Lahn and his wife, Annie, founded an investment company called Homeplace Ventures. They have seven children and live on a farm near Belle Plaine that was in Lahn’s family for more than a century. Their family has worked to preserve local historic buildings, like a movie theater and a train depot.
Lahn previously worked for Americans for Prosperity, a Libertarian conservative political advocacy group. He was raised in western Iowa, earned a pilot’s license and graduated from the University of Colorado, according to his campaign news release.
“I’m running for governor because I believe we’re losing the Iowa we love — who we are as a people, our heritage, our culture,” Lahn said. “Our family farms are dying off because big business is sucking the life out of them. Our public schools, which were once number one in the nation, are now in the bottom half. And Iowans want to be able to count on the basics again, like clean water and safe communities. We need a governor with the courage to fight for Iowa so we can build again.”
Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said Lahn “is just another member of the gang of insiders that would continue Iowa down the wrong direction.”
“Iowans need new leadership that will solve some of our toughest challenges, not more tariffs, vouchers and health care cuts from a staffer for Kim Reynolds’ favorite special interest group,” Hart said, referring to Americans for Prosperity.
State Rep. Eddie Andrews, 4th District U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, former state Rep. Brad Sherman and former Iowa Department of Administrative Services Director Adam Steen are also running for the Republican nomination for governor.
On the Democratic Party’s side, State Auditor Rob Sand and political strategist Julie Stauch are campaigning for governor.
