As Republican gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn opened his campaign headquarters in West Des Moines Thursday, he told reporters his plans to ramp up campaigning efforts ahead of the June 2 primary will center on addressing issues like health and agriculture that have been overlooked by politicians in both parties.
The GOP candidate thanked supporters, staff and volunteers who gathered at his new West Des Moines headquarters Thursday, with plans to hold an event at the Destination Grille in Grimes Thursday evening. The campaign office opened 61 days ahead of the primary — and marked one of the investments his campaign is making while kicking into a higher gear in the next two months, he said.
Lahn said the final push means more events across the state, media appearances in Iowa and on national podcasts, as well as his campaign rolling out digital and broadcast ads.
“We are on the ascendancy right now, and I think people are seeing our campaign more and more,” Lahn said. “And yes, we have just over 60 days left, but those 60 days are going to be very intense. We’re going to be all across the state on TV and media telling our message. And I think we are hitting stride right now at the right time.”
Lahn is one of five GOP candidates aiming become the GOP gubernatorial nominee. The crowded field of candidates is looking to succeed Gov. Kim Reynolds, who announced she would not seek reelection in 2025. Lahn will face U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, former Iowa Department of Administrative Services director Adam Steen, state Rep. Eddie Andrews and former state lawmaker Brad Sherman on the June primary ballot.
Lahn is an eastern Iowa farmer and businessman who has worked for the conservative political advocacy group Americans for Prosperity and has worked on campaigns and for a member of the Colorado state senate. He has never run for elected office, unlike many of the other candidates seeking the nomination. He said his campaign is bringing an “outsider” perspective to the race — one he believes Iowans will resonate with, as “some of the battles I’m taking on (are) battles that politicians on both sides have been ignoring for a very long time, while special interests, big corporations and lobbies have a lot of control.”
The top priorities for his campaign, he said, are addressing rising cancer rates, supporting family farms, improving the state’s education system and keeping young people in Iowa. Lahn said he didn’t “run a poll to see what issues I should run on, I knew what was going on because I talked to my friends, family and neighbors, and I see these things myself.”
Iowa has had a Republican governor for more than a decade, with Reynolds and former Gov. Terry Branstad holding the office. Republicans have also held control of both chambers in the Legislature since the 2016 election. Lahn said while he is in favor of much of what the GOP trifecta has accomplished in Iowa, he said there were some issues where he believed special interests have taken control of the conversation.
“I think that there’s good things that the Republicans have done in the Legislature. We’ve kept taxes low, we’re trying to control spending, we’ve protected life, things like that that Republicans should be doing. But then also, I think both parties have taken their eye off the ball on some of these bigger systemic issues. And I call that the ‘uni-party,’ that politicians on both sides are having undue influence by lobbies and special interests, and it’s causing some of these issues and has been causing decades.”
Lahn’s campaign was endorsed by the Make America Healthy Again PAC, affiliated with the “MAHA” movement spearheaded at the federal level by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Lahn said some of his policies related to health care and environmental protections are where he differs from other GOP candidates.
Speaking on “Iowa Press” earlier Thursday, Lahn said he believed some of the issues in rural health care access in Iowa are caused by consolidation within the health care industry, and said he supported “bringing antitrust suits” in this and other fields “to break up and bring competition to the market for the people.”
Lahn also told reporters at the headquarters opening that he believes similar corporate influence may have an impact on issues like vaccine scheduling and pesticide lawsuits in the state.
“We’ve just gotten to the point where there’s financial incentives at play, and lack of accountability through vaccine immunity acts that are not allowing these companies be held accountable — very similar to what I’m saying with the pesticide immunity bills,” Lahn said. “I’m absolutely opposed to those, because the free market is how we get recourse when we’re harmed by a product. So I think vaccines have a place, but we have to make sure we’re getting honest testing and science behind those, and too many of our agencies on the federal level have been captured by big business. We need real science and truth behind what the risks are associated there — because there are risks, but there are also many benefits.”
