Iowa Democrat to launch bid against Ernst after her controversial Medicaid remarks

Iowa Democratic state Rep. J.D. Scholten is launching a challenge against Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), as the Republican draws backlash for remarks at a recent town hall. 

“I wasn’t planning on doing this right now, but I just can’t sit on the sidelines after Joni’s recent town hall justifying gutting Medicaid because ‘we’re all gonna die,'” Scholten said in a video launch. 

Scholten told Politico that Ernst’s remarks “disrespected” Iowans and that “now’s the time” to make his bid official.

Ernst had pushed back against constituents who shouted at the Butler, Iowa, town hall event that cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) would cause people to die. 

“Well, we are all going to die,” the senator responded.

The exchange drew swift rebuke from Democrats in the wake of a House-passed budget reconciliation package that proposes cuts to Medicaid and SNAP funding. 

“Ernst’s stunningly callous remark comes as Republicans in Congress push massive cuts to Medicaid and other critical programs – leaving millions of Americans uninsured in order to pay for a tax giveaway for billionaires,” the Democrats’ Senate campaign arm said in a release. 

After jeers from the audience, Ernst at the town hall stressed that “those that meet the eligibility requirements for Medicaid, we will protect.”

“If you don’t want to listen, that’s fine. But what I’m doing is going through and telling you that those that are not eligible, those that are working and have opportunity for benefits elsewhere, then they should receive those benefits elsewhere and leave those dollars for those that are eligible for Medicaid,” the senator added.

She doubled down on the comments in a sarcastic apology video, saying, “I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that, yes, we are all going to perish from this Earth.”

Scholten ran for Iowa’s 4th Congressional District seat in both 2020 and 2018.

He enters the 2026 Senate race alongside Democrat Nathan Sage, who recently launched a bid for Ernst’s seat by decrying that farmers have been “f‑‑‑ed over” and vowing to “kick corporate Republican Joni Ernsts’s ass” in the midterms.

Ernst, who is seeking a third term next year, won reelection against a Democratic challenger by roughly 7 points in 2020. Republicans have long held onto Iowa’s Senate seats, and President Trump won the state by 13 points in November.

This story was updated at 8:36 a.m. on June 3.