For millions of Iowa families, Tuesday’s midterm elections aren’t just about political parties — they’re about whether a clinic stays open, whether a prescription stays affordable, and whether a paycheck stretches far enough to cover both groceries and a doctor’s visit. At a Halloween canvassing event in Ankeny, Democratic candidates and labor leaders made that case directly to union members and volunteers gathered at the IBEW Local 347 headquarters.
U.S. Senate candidate Josh Turek, gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand, and 3rd Congressional District candidate Sarah Trone Garriott joined national and state AFL-CIO leaders — along with former U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin — to mobilize voters ahead of the Nov. 3 election. The central themes of the afternoon: protecting healthcare access, defending Social Security, and pushing back against what speakers called a wave of union-busting that they say is hitting Iowans at home and in Washington.
Healthcare Costs at the Center of the 3rd District Race
In Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, Trone Garriott — a current state senator — is challenging incumbent Republican Rep. Zach Nunn. While Nunn has highlighted his bipartisan credentials, including meetings with unions and legislation aimed at easing the nurse shortage, Trone Garriott drew a sharp contrast on healthcare policy at the rally.
She framed the election as a direct choice for families already struggling with rising costs — at the pharmacy, at the gas pump, and in the doctor’s office.
“If you want things to stay the same — if you like your clinics closing and your healthcare costs going up, if you like having to pay more for everything your family needs, if you like paying over $4 a gallon for gas, over $6 a gallon for diesel, if you like the union-busting that’s happening in Washington — vote for Zach Nunn,”
she said.
“But if you want change, vote for me. I am so excited to get to Washington and take on the corruption that’s the heart of what is costing us so much.”
Trone Garriott said she supports the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, a federal proposal to expand workers’ rights to unionize and bargain collectively. She also said she would work to lower healthcare costs by reversing Medicaid cuts — cuts that, she and other speakers argued, are stripping coverage from Iowans who depend on it.
A Nunn campaign spokesperson pushed back, pointing to the congressman’s legislative record as evidence of his commitment to Iowa workers. Nunn introduced the Train More Nurses Act and voted in favor of the Protect America’s Workforce Act, a measure that extended collective bargaining rights to federal employees and was opposed by many House Republicans.
“Zach Nunn is the third most bipartisan member of Congress because he’s one of the few Republicans willing to not only walk into a union hall for a listening session, but buck his own party to defend Iowa workers,”
the spokesperson said.
“He also delivers: no tax on overtime for nurses, and legislation signed into law under two presidents to defend benefits for working Iowans and their families.”
The campaign also noted that Nunn hosted an Aug. 4 roundtable with Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling and healthcare workers coordinated with the United Nurses of Iowa — a group organizing to form a union with Teamsters Local 90 at UnityPoint hospitals. Following that meeting, Nunn sent a letter to Sonderling calling on the Department of Labor to address concerns about high turnover, workplace violence, and pay among healthcare workers.
Iowa Federation of Labor President Charlie Wishman, however, said Nunn’s overall record tells a different story for working Iowans.
“He is not — just not — for us,”
Wishman said.
“He’s engaged in the biggest union-busting operation that’s ever happened in the state, which was the gutting and destroying of our public sector collective bargaining law. And then he took that playbook and he went to Washington and participated in DOGE, which was the biggest union-busting endeavor in the history of our entire country. So that bar is really, really low. But it’s not just that — Sarah Trone Garriott is with us all the time.”
Senate Race: 110,000 Iowans and the Medicaid Question
In the U.S. Senate race, Democrat Josh Turek used his platform to put a human face on what federal budget decisions mean for Iowa families — specifically when it comes to healthcare coverage and food security.
Turek pointed to his Republican opponent Ashley Hinson’s AFL-CIO voting record — a 0% score in 2025 and a lifetime score of just 8% — and translated her votes into real-world consequences for Iowans.
“What has she done? She has voted in a state with a healthcare crisis and a cancer crisis for 110,000 Iowans to be pulled off their healthcare, for 119,000 Iowans to see their healthcare premiums double or triple, voted for thousands of working families to lose basic food assistance, for cuts to the Social Security Administration, just to give tax breaks to billionaires,”
Turek said.
“It’s disgusting. All the while, five times voted in favor of these tariffs. These tariffs that have led to grocery prices going up, decimating small businesses, killing small communities, and killing our farmers.”
Hinson’s campaign communications director, Billy Fuerst, disputed that characterization, saying the Republican
“has a strong record of delivering for Iowa workers, including passing no tax on tips and overtime, leading legislation to expand access to affordable childcare, and making the dream of homeownership more attainable for working families.”
Fuerst also charged that Turek’s agenda would backfire on working Iowans:
“Josh Turek would make life harder for Iowa workers by repealing no tax on tips and overtime and raising taxes on working Iowans. Josh Turek is too liberal for Iowa.”
For his part, Turek has said he supports reversing Medicaid cuts made through the 2025 “One, Big Beautiful Bill” Act, but that he supports the law’s move to repeal taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security.
Former U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, who earned a lifetime score of 100% from the AFL-CIO, said Turek would carry on his tradition of fighting for Iowa workers and protecting Social Security. Harkin urged union members to speak directly with friends, neighbors, and coworkers in the final days before Election Day — not just fellow Democrats.
“If all I did was rely on Democrats to vote for me, I never would have made it,”
Harkin said.
“But I needed you as my base. I needed you as my army out there. I needed you to be out on the frontlines for me, and talking about me with your friends and your neighbors.… That’s how we win. We win because you’ve taken what you believe in and the support that you want for organized labor, and you’ve reached out to friends and neighbors that probably aren’t union members to bring them across. That’s what it takes, and that’s what it’s going to take to win these races this year.”
Governor’s Race: A Direct Question About the Minimum Wage
State Auditor Rob Sand, the Democratic candidate for governor, took aim at Republican opponent Zach Lahn over what Sand called an evasive answer on the minimum wage during their debates.
When asked about raising Iowa’s minimum wage during the third gubernatorial debate, Lahn said:
“I think the easy political answer to a question like this would be for somebody to say yes. But I also understand that I drove by McDonald’s just the other day that was hiring at $14 an hour.”
Lahn added that rather than setting a specific wage floor, he would focus on expanding incentives for Iowa-based businesses and creating an entrepreneurial fund through the Iowa Economic Development Authority.
Sand recalled his reaction to the lengthy non-answer with a laugh, saying his mind wandered while Lahn spoke and he began
“starting to wonder what the weather’s going to be like on Wednesday morning after the election, because I’m going to be in a tree stand hunting.”
“I tune back in and he’s still answering the question — and he doesn’t have a number for where we should put the minimum wage,”
Sand said.
“And so that’s when I decided, when it’s my turn to answer, I’m just going to say, ‘Yeah, 12 bucks an hour.’ Sometimes, being a real human being is not demonstrating that you can give a long answer, but that you can give a short one, so that people know you actually think something.”
Iowa voters heading to the polls Tuesday can find candidate information and race details in the 2026 Iowa general election voter guide.
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