SIOUX CITY, Iowa — State Representative J.D. Scholten, a Democrat from Sioux City, said that he was not originally planning to launch a new campaign on Monday. But after he heard U.S. Senator Joni Ernst’s responses to a person who expressed fears that people will die because of Republican budget cuts to Medicaid and food assistance, he said that he announced his campaign for Ernst’s seat in the 2026 election.
“I wasn’t planning on doing this right now, but I just can’t sit on the sidelines after Joni’s recent town hall,” Scholten said in a social media post announcing his campaign Monday afternoon, “justifying gutting Medicaid because we’re all going to die…cutting vital services to give bigger tax breaks to billionaires isn’t just bad policy, it’s theft from people like you and me.”
On Friday, Ernst’s response during a town hall in Parkersburg has been shared across the country after someone in the crowd said that Republican budget cuts to Medicaid will mean “people will die.”
Ernst responded, “we are all going to die” and followed that up with a social media post on Saturday that offered a fake apology for her remarks.
Ernst, while standing in a cemetery, said in a video, “I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that, yes, we are all going to perish from this earth. So, I apologize, and I’m really, really glad that I did not have to bring up the subject of the Tooth Fairy as well.”
Scholten said the callous response merits an effort to defeat her in 2026. “Maybe it sounds crazy to run against an insider with enough arrogance to laugh at her constituents, but I’ve ran hard races before,” Scholten said in his video.
Scholten made a political name for himself in 2018 when he narrowly lost an upset challenge to longtime Republican U.S. Representative Steve King in northwest Iowa’s overwhelming Republican heavy congressional district. His longshot campaign featured Scholten traveling the district’s counties multiple times in an RV that he named “Sue City Sue.”
The unorthodox campaign attracted millions in donations, celebrity endorsements, and featured an ad narrated by actor Kevin Costner.
Scholten has served in the state legislature since 2023 and over the weekend announced that, at the age of 45, has a signed a new agreement to play semi-professional baseball with the Sioux City Explorers.
Scholten said of his new U.S. Senate campaign that he is a “baseball playing, monopoly busting, beer drinking, Bible reading, working class, proud prairie populist, who is sixth generation Iowan from right here in Sioux City, and I fundamentally believe that we deserve more than a Go Fund Me, broken healthcare system, a JBS food system and Dollar General economy. Ultimately, this race is not about Joni Ernst and it’s not about me. It’s about the people in Iowa who deserve better, better representatives who fight against the billionaire elites and special interests who hurt us.”
Scholten becomes the second Democrat to announce a campaign for Ernst’s seat. Political newcomer, Nathan Sage — military veteran and executive director of the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce, announced his campaign in April.
About the author: Midwest native Dave Price is Gray Television’s Iowa Political Director for nine stations that broadcast in the state and has been covering local, state and national politics from Iowa since 2001.
Dave produces and hosts “Inside Iowa Politics,” a weekly, in-depth show focused on interviews with top leaders on politics, issues, challenges and solutions that impact the state.
He has written two books about the Iowa Caucuses (“Caucus Chaos” and “Caucus Chaos Trump”). Email him at dave.price@gray.tv. Follow him on X (Twitter): @idaveprice Meta/Facebook: DavePriceNews Instagram: idaveprice and LinkedIn: Dave Price.
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