Marshalltown Mayor Joel Greer opened his residence to the public yesterday for a meet and greet gathering with Iowa Sen. Zach Wahls (D-Coralville), who is running for Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa)’s seat in the United States Senate.

Introducing Wahls, Greer said he likes a particular profile of an Iowan leader – someone who includes everyone, who works across the aisle and has a good background.

“When I learned Zach was running for office, I volunteered to bring him here and meet some people,” he said. “It’s my pleasure to be able to host Zach.”

Wahls, a two-term state senator first elected in 2018, said he has not been back to Marshalltown since his high school swimming days. He told more than 30 attendees, during his time in the legislature, he built a reputation as someone who fights for what he believes in.

“That means a fair economy that works for us as hard as we work at our jobs,” Wahls said. “It means voting against the six-week abortion ban that Kim Reynolds pushed, because I think we should trust women to make their own healthcare decisions, thank you very much. It means voting against the private school voucher scam. Public funding should be for public schools. I can’t believe that’s a controversial opinion.”

The economy is a big reason he wanted to run for the seat occupied by Ernst, who decided not to run for re-election in 2026. Eighteen months ago he and his wife welcomed a baby boy, and they have learned a lot about the cost of being a parent.

“I have so many friends for whom the size of their family now is determined not by the number of children they want to have, but how many they can afford to have,” Wahls said. “When we talk about an economy that is not working for us, that is a perfect example.”

The economic crisis does not just impact parents. He added Iowans from all walks of life are being crushed by out of control costs. The effects are seen in the grocery store, the doctor’s office, the pharmacy, the nursing home and child care.

“Our child care costs as much as our mortgage,” Wahls said. “We’re getting crushed by this situation. . . . It doesn’t have to be this way. I know a better future and better politics is possible, and is one of the reasons why I decided to run for the Senate.”

Another crisis the country is facing is political corruption, Wahls said. He recalled working on legislation to stop out of state corporations from buying trailer parks in Iowa and significantly raising the rent on the tenants. Wahls remembered going to a closed-door meeting with Republican legislators and a lobbyist representing the corporations. One of those legislators was Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa). According to Wahls, Hinson voted in favor of the corporations for a “paltry” amount of money, $1,500.

“Ashley Hinson killed our bipartisan bill,” he said. ” . . . This is what we’re talking about. I’ve seen it firsthand. This corruption is why people are being forced to make impossible decisions.”

Wahls vowed on the first day of his campaign to not take a dime of corporate money so the corruption can be ended. He is counting solely on grassroots support, he added. However, winning will not be the sole answer to ending the corruption, a plan must be in place. There must be a Constitutional amendment to overturn the 2010 United States Supreme Court Citizens United decision which gave First Amendment rights to corporations and unions, and allowed them to spend unlimited money on campaigns.

“Second, I am a strong supporter of common sense term limits,” Wahls said. “In Iowa, we know that rotating the crops is good for our soil. You better believe it is good for our politicians too. . . . As a new dad, I can tell you politicians are a lot like diapers. They should be changed often and for the same reason.”

He said he will not seek a third term if elected twice. Wahls said another action he, his immediate family and his staff will not take if he is elected to the Senate is buying, selling or trading stocks. People should not be getting rich while serving the public, he added.

“To fix this economy, we have to start by cleaning up the corruption,” Wahls said.

He will face Democratic candidates Rep. Josh Turek (D-Council Bluffs), Nathan Sage of Knoxville and Jackie Norris of Des Moines in the June 2026 primary election. Republican candidates for Ernst’s Senate seat include Hinson, Jim Carlin of Sioux City and Joshua Smith of Indianola.

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Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.