Christina Bohannan

Several candidates who ran last cycle, but lost narrowly, are running again to get the job done this time around, including law professor, engineer and former Iowa State Representative Christina Bohannan. In a district Trump won by 8 points in 2024 Christina came within 799 votes of winning and was able to get 30,000 Iowans who voted for Trump to vote for her. She is a very strong candidate and it's great she is giving it another go.

The climate in Iowa this year is more favorable now. The national climate has shifted at least 7 points since last year. Our respected candidate for Governor, Rob Sand, is running a very competitive race. Democrats on the ground are far more motivated [here] and Trump's misguided trade policies are doing enormous harm to farmers and everyone dependent on the farm economy in this agricultural powerhouse. Her opponent has voted for the Republican uglies — tariffs, health care cuts, higher energy costs — and is going to have a very hard time "defending the indefensible" in their election. And Christina is now a far more experienced candidate.

Christina does a great job explaining just how different this cycle feels right now on the ground, how much more favorable it is than last year. It is important that folks hear this from one of our top candidates, for it affirms that more is possible for us in 2026 — that with hard work this can be a cycle of opportunity for us across the country, even in tough-to-win red states and red places like Iowa.

For more context on the opportunities in Iowa this year, watch a recent interview with Iowa Democratic Chair Rita Hart. She provides a terrific overview of the 2026 electoral landscape in Iowa, and explains why she believes it can be a year of progress for us in this critical state — including potentially in a US Senate race.

This is the race in 2024, and Bohannan will try again against the same MAGA in 2026.