Rep. Ashley Hinson, Iowa’s Republican Senate candidate, will not attend a campaign rally headlined by Vice President JD Vance in Iowa on Friday, a Hinson campaign spokesperson said Wednesday.
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The spokesperson cited previously scheduled events but declined to say which events are preventing the congresswoman from campaigning alongside the Republican leader.
Zach Lahn, Republicans’ gubernatorial candidate in Iowa, will attend the Vance event, according to a campaign official.
The Hinson decision comes as the candidate attempts to burnish her bipartisan credentials and as polls show President Donald Trump and his administration are increasingly unpopular, even with some Republicans. She is running against Iowa’s Democratic state Rep. Joshua Turek in a race that political prognosticators see as a toss-up.
Hinson’s campaign released an ad this week that featured the congresswoman touting bipartisanship.
Iowa has shifted from a more purple state in the 2010s to deep red over the last decade.
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Her decision to not attend also comes a day after two vulnerable House Republicans from Iowa, Reps. Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, voted with Democrats on a measure that was intended to halt the Iran war.
Hinson, in an interview with The Washington Post earlier this month, acknowledged some of the economic pain caused by the Iran war and rising gas prices, but said Trump and Republicans are still rebuilding from where Democrats left the economy in 2024.
“That is at the heart of everything,” Hinson said. “And I’m reminding folks we are moving things forward and we’re trying to fix these problems. I understand that there is more to do here, and that’s exactly why I’m running.”
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