T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jim Carlin, center, poses for a photo with the Iowa Veterans Home administrative team inside the Sheeler Building during a campaign stop on Tuesday afternoon.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jim Carlin, a trial lawyer, former state senator and Army veteran from Sioux City, made his second Marshalltown campaign stop of the 2026 election cycle on Tuesday afternoon, a visit to the Iowa Veterans Home to meet with the administrative team and tour the historic facility on the northwest side of the community.

Carlin is one of two Republicans, along with current U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa), running to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa). Democrats Josh Turek of Council Bluffs and Zach Wahls of Coralville are also competing for their party’s nomination with the primary election for both parties to be held on June 2. Carlin told the T-R he is the best choice because of his work on behalf of working families, veterans and seniors.

“I like to know where the economic realities of people lie. I think the government is hurting more than serving the people of this country right now with its policies on housing, healthcare, student loans, and, honestly, (they) could be doing a better job for the veterans in some respects,” he said. “When you’re spending a half a trillion dollars and you have veterans in waiting lines for disability claims and diagnostic workups, you’ve got some work to do.”

As he mentioned during his last stop at the Pachyderm Club meeting in March, Carlin became acquainted with IVH as a state legislator when he investigated whistleblower allegations of residents being placed in memory care units for complaining about losing their smoking privileges, a series of events that eventually resulted in the firing of then-Commandant Timon Oujiri.

He added, however, that he has heard “very good things” about current Commandant Todd Jacobus.

“He’s very well regarded, and the concerns I had then, I don’t think I have any concerns now,” Carlin said. “I’m sure our veterans are being very well taken care of, from what I’m hearing.”

The goal of his tour was to get an “on the ground” feel of how the approximately 400 veterans who live at IVH were being taken care of, and Jacobus said it also provided leadership a chance to advocate for the federal legislative issues affecting the facility. As it turns out, the vast majority of IVH’s funding — $72 million out of $80 million annually — comes from the federal government.

His biggest goal for veterans if elected, he said, is to ensure that veterans are adequately taken care of once they return from service, and the main priority for Jacobus at the federal level is reimbursement for residents’ pharmaceutical drugs as some have monthly costs as high as $30,000.

“If they’re anywhere else, the VA’s paying for it, but they are offloading that cost when they come to only a state veterans home,” IVH Legislative Liaison Mike Olson said.

A bill to address the disparity was introduced by U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) with 49 cosponsors, and Olson is hoping for a Senate companion bill. A second issue they are passionate about is the State Veterans Home Inspection Simplification Act due to the fact that all 75 state veterans homes across the country are currently subject to two separate weeklong state and federal inspections.

“We’re not trying to hide anything, but it just consumes us for a week. Two out of 52 weeks (of the year) are consumed doing surveys,” Jacobus said.

The money recouped from the costs of those inspections, Olson added, could be reallocated to help veterans in other ways.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.