Iowa · U.S. Senate · 2026

Iowa Senate race

General election in 51 days · Nov 3, 2026

The read · Iowa Senate race

Joni Ernst ranks No. 4 in money raised.

Candidates in the Iowa Senate race, 2026 report raising $21.8M between them. Ashley Arenholz reports $7.5M and Joshua Turek reports $6.3M, a gap of $1.2M. Of what Ashley Arenholz reports, 70% came from individuals and 29% from PACs. Outside groups spent against ERNST, JONI K ($15,476).

Public campaign-finance filings, 2026 cycle. Candidate rows are filers on record, not final ballot lists. Totals are rounded to whole dollars.

Every candidate on file

Ranked by money raised. Each row shows the campaign money mix and a plain-English read.

Ashley Arenholz

R · challenger

Candidate leans on PAC money. 29% from PACs and 70% from individuals.

70% individuals29% PACs1% other

$7.5M

raised

Joshua Turek

D · challenger

Small-donor heavy. 93% from individuals and 6% from PACs.

93% individuals6% PACs1% other

$6.3M

raised

Zach Wahls

D · challenger

Small-donor heavy. 97% from individuals and 3% from PACs.

97% individuals3% PACs0% other

$3.9M

raised

Joni Ernst

RIncumbent

R · incumbent

Incumbent leans on PAC money. 39% from PACs and 61% from individuals.

61% individuals39% PACs0% other

$1.6M

raised

Nathan Sage

D · challenger

Small-donor heavy. 97% from individuals and 1% from PACs.

97% individuals1% PACs2% other

$1.4M

raised

James Carlin

R · challenger

28% from individuals, 0% from PACs, and 72% from other sources.

28% individuals0% PACs72% other

$494K

raised

Jackie Norris

D · challenger

Small-donor heavy. 97% from individuals and 1% from PACs.

97% individuals1% PACs2% other

$364K

raised

James Scholten

D · challenger

Small-donor heavy. 93% from individuals and 5% from PACs.

93% individuals5% PACs2% other

$213K

raised

Show 1 more candidate

Thomas Laehn

L · challenger

Small-donor heavy. 99% from individuals and 0% from PACs.

99% individuals0% PACs1% other

$32K

raised

Where the money came from

$0 in itemized outside money is on file for this cycle. Candidate fundraising is shown separately below.

Small donors & unclassified$40K

Energy & Utilities$15K

Agriculture$10K

Ideological / Leadership$10K

Tech & Telecom$7K

Health & Pharma$6K

Defense & Aerospace$5K

Real Estate & Construction$5K

Transportation$5K

Biggest itemized outside spenders

BEST AT BRINGING ENTREPRENEURIAL RESULTS NEVER IMAGINED OR ENVISIONED PAC · pac$10K
GROWTH ENERGY PAC · pac$10K
TOGETHER HOLDING OUR MAJORITY PAC · pac$10K
TOMORROW IS MEANINGFUL PAC · pac$10K
NATIONAL RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION PAC (RESTAURANT PAC) · pac$8K
MAGGIE'S LIST · pac$7K
T-MOBILE US, INC. POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (T-PAC) · pac$7K
AMGEN INC. POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE · pac$6K

PACs vs the people

This split is from the candidates' own reported fundraising.

15%82%

15% PACs82% individuals3% other

The incumbent's record

Joni Ernst is the linked incumbent for this race.

Net worth (2025)

$790K

$255K+. up $287K since 2014.

Stock trades

None on file

No disclosed individual stock transactions.

Committees

Current full committee seats on file.

Where they sit

Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship · Chairman
Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
Senate Committee on Armed Services
Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

Who funds them

This is the incumbent's own funding by donor sector for the cycle.

Small donors & unclassified$40K

Energy & Utilities$15K

Agriculture$10K

Ideological / Leadership$10K

Tech & Telecom$7K

Health & Pharma$6K

Full profile: net worth, donors, trades, and votes ->

The tale of the tape

Money, side by side. Green marks the leader on each line.

Ashley Arenholz R · challenger AA	vs	Joshua Turek D · challenger
$7.5M	Raised	$6.3M
$6.7M	Cash on hand	$2.4M
29%	From PACs	6%
70%	From individuals	93%
Too few to rank	Top donor sector	Too few to rank
No	Incumbent	No