U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, left, Rep. Ashley Hinson, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and U.S. Sen. Rick Scott speak at Miller-Meeks’s tailgate event on Sept. 12, 2026. (Photo by Brooklyn Draisey/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
IOWA CITY — Candidates vying for Iowa state and federal government positions joined football fans in Iowa City Saturday to engage with supporters before the football game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and Iowa State Cyclones.
U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks held her annual Triple-M Tailgate with supporters and several guests, including U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, Rep. Ashley Hinson, gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig, Lt. Gov. Chris Cournoyer, congressional candidate Joe Mitchell and others.
Republicans argued that if they aren’t elected, Democrats will make changes to the policies that they believe are common sense — supporting law enforcement, strengthening border control, stopping big government and providing tax relief to citizens.
“We know why we’re running. We know we’re here to serve you, and we know what we’re going to do,” Miller-Meeks said. “You also know what the other side is going to do. Don’t give them the opportunity to take away your opportunity.”
Turek says Iowans want change
Democrat Josh Turek, facing off against Hinson in the U.S. Senate race, said at a tailgate near Kinnick Stadium that the football fans he’s spoken to expressed excitement for both the Hawkeyes and his campaign. Turek wore a Hawkeye shirt at the tailgate.
Polls from Rasmussen Reports and YouGov have reported Turek ahead of Hinson, with the first placing Turek at 45% of the vote and Hinson at 40% and the second reporting Turek as just one point ahead of Hinson at 44%.
While Republicans at Miller-Meeks’ event said Democrats are seeking to change the foundations of the U.S. for the worse, Turek said he’s fighting for the American dream that young people have told him they’re afraid of never achieving. Iowans have said they’re tired of what they’re seeing in the state and federal government and are ready for a change.
One young Republican Turek said he spoke to told him he was worried about never being able to own a home. Young people are “worried about the same things that we all are,” Turek said, including rising costs, corruption, affordable housing and healthcare, earning a livable wage and having access to clean drinking water.
“I want to make sure that the American dream continues, and I want to make sure we’ve got someone in D.C. that is fighting for the people, not just the billionaires and large corporations,” Turek said. “Or not going up to D.C. to make yourself more wealthy but actually doing the work of the people.”
Hinson, among Republicans supporting Miller-Meeks Saturday, said she’s ready for the challenge of filling retiring Sen. Joni Ernst’s shoes. Wearing an Iowa State shirt, she said she is still focused on the three things she identified when she first ran for office — protecting taxpayers, ensuring rural Americans have a voice and ensuring “we have a safe and secure country.”
Republicans emphasize importance of Iowa races
Miller-Meeks, who sported a Hawkeye shirt on Saturday, is running for reelection in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District — which includes Iowa City — against Democrat Christina Bohannan.
Democrats no longer believe in Iowans or “in the beauty and the promise and opportunity of our nation,” Miller-Meeks said, but she and other Republicans are not “ashamed” but proud of America and being “American-made.”
Lahn said Democrats have been focusing on just bad things going on, and while he acknowledged there are things “we still need to work on,” he emphasized that “change is not a campaign platform.”
Democrats’ goal is to make voters believe that “your life is terrible and it’s somebody else’s fault,” he said, but there are many good things, including Iowa’s high rankings in affordability, opportunity and quality of a place to retire. However, he said, there are things that need to be improved, and his priorities include keeping kids in Iowa, increasing and supporting family farms, ensuring quality education and “the health of our people.”
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who said he won races after recounts just like Miller-Meeks, told the crowd of supporters Miller-Meeks is the “epitome of the American woman” — someone who worked hard their whole life, has served people in her role as a doctor and will keep fighting to serve them in her government role.
Miller-Meeks shared the story of her upbringing and said the reason she decided to run for office was that she was tired of “big insurance companies and big government” hurting the patients she worked with.
If Iowa had a Democrat in the governor’s office during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and not a Republican, Scott claimed, they would have ruined the state’s economy and kept children from attending school entirely. He added that all Democrats are socialists, although no Iowa Democrats running for statewide or federal office accept that label.
“These statewide races matter,” Scott said. “If you want more jobs, you want school choice, you want to live in a safe community, if you don’t elect your statewide candidates, it’s going to change.”
Miller-Meeks’ and Hinson’s races are also incredibly important in ensuring Republican majorities in the U.S. House and Senate, Scott said. If there aren’t Republican majorities, he said “nothing good will happen for two years.” Supporting law enforcement, school choice and growing jobs would all go away under Democrats, he said.
Republicans attack Democrats on immigration
Mullin went further than Scott and called all Democrats “communists,” a point he said President Donald Trump has made before. Democrats are trying to turn the U.S. into a communist country by sowing chaos, which he said former president Joe Biden did by allowing illegal immigration. He said Trump has provided the tools to fix things through policy and law enforcement but Iowans must do their part in the voting booths.
Communism involves the seizure of the means of production and other resources by the government — something no Iowa candidates are advocating.
Reading an artificial intelligence-generated summary from an internet search on how to turn “a red state blue,” Mullin said one would need to shift demographics through encouraging migration and investing in voter registration efforts for new and returning voters. The plan isn’t to change people’s minds with good ideas, he said, but to bring enough people in to drown out others.
Republicans are the party of “common sense,” Mullin said, as it makes sense to not support criminals, to secure U.S. borders, to support law enforcement and provide “tax breaks for everybody.”
“By them allowing or wanting open borders, and then not deporting those that are in this country (illegally), it’s because they’re trying to change the fabric of our country, the foundation of our country, and it starts and races just like Miss Miller-Meeks’,” Mullin said.