Iowa state Rep. JD Scholten has launched a challenge against Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, after she mocked constituents who were concerned about people dying from the GOP’s planned cuts to Medicaid, saying, “We’re all going to die.”
Scholten, a minor league baseball pitcher for the Sioux City Explorers, is pitching himself as a “Lina Khan Democrat,” hoping that the former FTC commissioner’s brand of antitrust populism can help him flip a seat in the Midwest.
Scholten, a state representative in his second term, has run for federal office twice before, once against Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, where he nearly flipped the seat, and once against Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, when Feenstra won more decisively.
Scholten, however, sees a big opportunity for Democrats to back parts of the Midwest, and not just because Republican senators don’t seem to care if their constituents die because of their budget. Scholten tolwd Salon that Democrats need to be willing to acknowledge the reality of an ongoing “agricultural recession” and push their campaigns beyond the suburban focus that has dominated the party’s strategy in recent years.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
I wanted to start out by asking you what the reaction to Sen. Ernst’s comments and her apparent disregard for the lives of people on Medicaid has been in Iowa and among your constituents.
Even before her comments — the comments stem from Medicaid cuts — there were rallies against that. On the ground, people didn’t like the bill, and that’s why it got brought up in that town hall. And then ever since that happened, there’s just been an enormous reaction across the state. I mean, it’s broken through more than I’ve seen anything here in Iowa politics in a long time. People on the ground called her “Joni Hearse”; Raygun T-shirts are selling out … it’s just crazy what the reaction’s been.
So it’s safe to say people are thinking about it?
Yeah, so here’s the thing. I play professional baseball and my teammates are 20 years younger than me. These are dudes who aren’t that linked to politics, and so it was interesting for them to come up to me. They just saw Iowa and politics and saw it go viral and asked me, “What’s up with this?”
In your district, how are people feeling about his bill beyond Sen. Ernst’s comments on it. Especially when it was in the House, we saw a lot of organizing around it. I’m wondering, do you still see that energy? How are people feeling at this moment … especially with everything that’s been happening in Los Angeles?
So I would say a couple of things. One, here in Sioux City, we have 25 different Head Start programs, and the impact on them would be devastating, and the impact on Sioux City if those were to get cut would be devastating. The bigger issue that will impact every Iowan, whether you’re on Medicaid or not, [is] it’s going to close nursing homes, and rural OB-GYNs … are already stressed, and it’s going to add more stress. This is going to impact all of us.
There are a ton of protesters coming out every single day. They’re the most vocal protesters we’ve had over my entire term, my two terms down in the capital.
You’ve been described as a “Lina Khan Democrat.” I was hoping you could say what that means to you and why you think this style of politics is right for winning a seat in Iowa, which a lot of people might assume is maybe allergic to more progressive politics.
We have a long history of progressive politics, and it goes back to one of my political heroes, Berkeley Bedell, in the late 70s, early 80s. He ran an early 80s reelection poster that said, “The 1% controls your government. Does the 99% have a chance? How do we save our democracy?” A “Lina Khan Democrat” to me is someone who’s willing to take on corporate power and look out for consumer interest and everyday American interests. And so yeah, I proudly wear that badge.
I have a Substack called “You’re Probably Getting Screwed” that I’ve run for probably three years now and we have a weekly newsletter about economic populist issues.
Do people bring these up to you when you’re speaking to your constituents, issues like corporate power?
Yeah, in different ways. I mean, the reality is we have a GoFundMe health care system that’s broken. We have a GDS system that’s broken, and a Dollar General economy that’s broken, and so people in one form or another bring this up to me all the time.
When I was running for Congress, talking to farmers the second time I ran, I had farmers who would always vote for me and farmers who would never, and they didn’t push back one time when it came to this type of stuff.
Let me ask you a slightly parallel question. I’ve been reporting on some of the WelcomeFest stuff out of Washington. I’m wondering if people in Iowa talk to you about “abundance,” and if that’s something that they’re excited about?
No one in Iowa talks to me about “abundance.” I’ve seen the argument on social media. I think there’s room for it, but at the same time, when you don’t talk about corporate greed and the corporate influence on a lot of this stuff, I think you’re missing the point. So if you had to choose between abundance or populism, I’d lean on the populist side. I really haven’t had any constituents or anything talk to me about it, but I know that there’s a debate out there.
I’m just trying to take advantage of this opportunity to ask people who are outside of Washington, DC about this current and Democratic politics.
Well, we do need to build things, and we do need to push our Democratic base to be that guiding light for a lot of us. I will just say, as a state legislator, watching other states pass bills that pass through the legislature, I know Governor Newsom and Governor Polis both had bills … on the reining in the corporate practice of medicine a little bit and making sure that private equity isn’t taking over a lot of that. And then there was a private equity bill in Colorado, too, in both of those [states] they passed the legislature, but the governor vetoed those bills. And so like to me like that, that’s the frustration I have when I see that’s what we are fighting and that’s why I’m trying to make sure that the economy works for everyone, not just a few.
In terms of policies, I’d be interested in two things. One, I’m curious which policies people in your district come to you in terms of wanting the government to fix or wanting the government to address, most frequently, and which ones stand out to you? And on the other side, I’m wondering what you think is a Democratic policy that the whole party could run on, that could win over a state like Iowa, where Democrats have struggled for a long time?
So the first part of the question, what is brought up to me is health care. I think the fact that we’re the wealthiest country in the world and we don’t have universal health care is a moral stain on this country. You look at Canada, how they got universal health care: it was Saskatchewan farmers in the 1950s because they didn’t have it through their employers. I know a lot of Democratic people who like to talk about rural broadband. That’s not doing anything for a lot of folks. I mean, if they get broadband, that’s great, but that’s not the game changer that Democratic consultants think it is. If they got health care, that’s the game changer.
You know, the thing that also farmers bring up — a lot of farmers and ranchers bring up — [is] input prices. So when it comes to trade, this trade war right now and everything … The same multinational corporations that sold Iowa soybeans to China are now down to Brazil, selling Brazilian soybeans to China, and here we are without a good chunk of that market share.
Agriculture is the perfect industry to show the example of what we need ot do and be like a Lina Khan Democrat and add more competition. Add more competition. Since COVID, we all wanted to know where our food comes from, and the fact that 50% of our fruit comes from outside the country, 40% of our vegetables, like when a lot of that could be grown [here], it’s a choice that we import this stuff. In order to be a secure nation, we have to be a food-secure nation, and that’s an issue we can really run on. And healthier foods, cheaper food, that’s something that could benefit all of us.
This is a bit of a tangential question. In New York, we’ve got a mayoral candidate running on government-run or government-managed grocery stores. I’m wondering if you think that’s something that could work, even in a place like Iowa. I’m not sure what the food situation is like in this state, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were areas of the state where it was hard to find, you know, a good grocer or a good supermarket.
Oh, definitely. Ninety percent of the food I would use is imported. And like here in Sioux City, you have agriculture as far as the eye can see, and as far as you can drive in every direction, and we don’t have a farm-to-market or farm-to-table restaurant. We don’t have any co-op or anything of the sort. And so to me, it’s a level of frustration, because it’s like, for me, I’m a professional athlete. I try to eat healthy, but our everyday grocery store is stocked with things that nutritionists say you should try to avoid. So, as far as government-run, I don’t know, but I think there’s maybe a private-public partnership that we should do, or incentivize a lot more regional food, I think that would go a long way more than just a government grocery store.
In terms of a policy that can unite Democrats in 2026 and 2028, you talked at length about health care. Would you know something like Medicare for all or a public option be something you see as a marquee policy, and you know, is there another policy that you think would be a winner for Democrats based on the conversations you have with your constituents?
I’m not a purist when it comes to Medicare-for-all. The goal is to get universal health care, however we get there. I think having a public option is the first step, but like, we have to get there as a country. It’s so insane that we don’t have that here already, and we’re failing as a country because of that.
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Just to reiterate, you see this as the policy for Democrats to run on or is there something else you see? I’ll talk to other people, from a different strain in the party, who’ll talk about things like raising the top marginal tax rate.
Maybe like putting Medicare for 55, lowering the age, or taxing carried interest for private equity. We have to, in Iowa, acknowledge that the economy isn’t working for us. It just came out that we got ranked last in the economy, or 50th or 51st in the nation. So like there’s, there’s a level of frustration out here. There are pockets in Iowa City that are doing really well, but most of Iowa hasn’t bounced back from the 2008 economic crisis.
We have a lot of manufacturing towns that have lost jobs. Those used to be union jobs. That’s part of the reason why Iowa has shifted red, you know. And I think that’s something that Democrats need to do more to address than they have been doing, more than just to win those [races], but to help those people.
There are so many Iowans who were promised to see their life if they lived where they wanted to, where they grew up, and worked at the local factory. That’s just not the reality anymore. We don’t have that in common anymore. And I think that’s part of the pent-up frustration. I think that’s why a lot of people decided to vote for Trump. That’s why we’re here.
What do you think Democrats at large would learn from Iowa in terms of making the economy work for everyone? And also, maybe speaking to people like you mentioned, who feel left behind in the modern United States economy. Recently, Democrats have focused their efforts in suburban areas in a way that hasn’t totally worked out. And maybe, you know, 2026, could be an opportunity to look elsewhere for inspiration in their message.
I think you’re exactly right. We have to find ways to bring people into our coalition. And if you get out there and talk to people and get out of your comfort zone a little bit, and that’s the problem is right now, there’s no one there to deliver that message.
I’m the only Democrat in 42 counties in northwest and north central Iowa. I consider myself a blueberry in a bowl of tomato soup. I have to talk to Republicans. I don’t have a choice; every public forum, everything I do and every other legislator is a Republican. So how do we find ways to talk to their voters, to get people into our coalition?
I just think there’s so much opportunity in 2026 because people are frustrated. The reality is that we’re an agricultural economy in recession, and that is not being strong enough. John Deere has laid off people. A bunch of manufacturers in the state of Iowa have laid off people. And so you add that with the fact that the average age of a farmer is north of 58 years old — when they die off, there’s going to be a land transfer, whether it’s the next generation or selling their land to somebody else who’s going to own that land. And is it going to be venture capitalists or private equity, Bill Gates, or is it going to be your neighbors down the road?
We have a huge turning point right now and a crossroads, right now in our economy, and Democrats have such a big opportunity, because their rural schools are not getting better, they’re consolidating. The rural hospitals are consolidating. The rural nursing homes are consolidating. The OB-GYN, you have to drive an hour to get regular checkups, and most of them are in urban and suburban areas.
Thinking about you know, farmers, maybe union workers or ex-union workers, I’m wondering what you see as the block in communicating with these people. I think a lot of people on the left will say Democrats have lost trust with these people, going back to kind of Clinton’s policy and the NAFTA era. I think a lot of people in the center of the party are ready to blame socially liberal values, whether it’s on immigration or on transgender participation in sports. As someone who represents, as you said, “a blueberry in a bowl of tomato soup,” I’m wondering what you see as the key disconnect and connecting with these voters.
I think it’s finding where the voters are at. I think that’s a huge problem we have. A lot of our campaigns are run by folks who are not from Iowa. There are not too many people who tell you to go on rural radio. The numbers may not be massive in these counties, but usually, one county has one radio station, and most of the businesses and the farmers all have that object. So like, what are we doing to match that? A lot of these radio stations have what I call propaganda during the day and then sports at night.
And so what are we doing to counter that, Democrats and the Democratic party, that to me is how things have really shifted in the last 12 years. A lot of counties went Obama, Obama, then Trump, Trump, Trump. I think Iowa leads the nation in those counties that shifted. That’s a huge part of it, and the rise of misinformation on social media. So you add that all together, that’s where we’ve got to combat a lot of this stuff, and get out there and find ways to communicate with these voters, because just going up on TV is not getting it done. A lot of these digital ads are not getting it done.
And, I think you’re exactly right, a lot of people got frustrated after NAFTA. I think there are a lot of rural folks who are hoping for an antitrust movement with Obama, and that didn’t happen. And so we have to go out and prove like, hey, there’s a new breed of Democrats here. We’re trying to fix the economies that work for everybody. I think that’s a message that we can really win on in 2026.
What do you think about the party brand in this context, thinking about the relative success of a candidate like Dan Osborne? I’m wondering what can be done under the “D” label to get people to even hear you out in these spaces?
I’ve had hundreds of meetings where I stopped in a coffee shop, talked to folks if they like what I had to say. And then they asked me, “Are you Democrat or Republican?” And first of all, it hurts that they had to ask. But second, when I say Democrat, that look on their face, and just like, “Oh, we’re not with you” type of things. And it’s not a place where many people have pronouns on their business cards. You know, it’s just that’s the reality of living in places like this, in a lot of places.
I think if you’re … you’re not just a Democrat, or just like the run-of-the-mill Democrat, I think you have a chance in a lot of these places. Looking at our race, I think a huge part of why I outperform … [is] we brand in a way that’s different than the national Democrat. Whether it’s my antitrust stuff or my baseball stuff, it’s something that we can use to get our foot in a lot of doors, and I wish more Democrats were like that here in Iowa.
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