Iowa state lawmaker enters US Senate race after Ernst retort on Medicaid cuts

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SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa state Rep. J.D. Scholten, a Democrat, announced a run for U.S. Senate on Monday, a decision he says he made after U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst made a retort about Medicaid cuts that prompted swift backlash.

Scholten, from northwest Iowa, was first elected to the statehouse in 2023 after twice losing congressional races in Iowa’s reliably conservative 4th Congressional District.

“I wasn’t planning on doing this right now but I just can’t sit on the sidelines,” Scholten said in an announcement on social media.

In Parkersburg, Iowa, Ernst on Friday defended the $700 billion in reduced spending, saying it would keep immigrants in the U.S. illegally and those who have access to insurance through their employers off the rolls. She emphasized the message that those changes would sustain the program for vulnerable populations.

But when someone in the crowd yelled that people will die without coverage, Ernst responded: “People are not ... well, we all are going to die."

The retort drew swift condemnation, as did a sarcastic apology video from Ernst released on Saturday.

Scholten first ran for Congress in 2018, narrowly losing in the overwhelmingly Republican district to U.S. Rep. Steve King, a Republican who was embroiled in years of controversy involving his previous support of white supremacist groups. In 2020, Scholten lost to Republican Randy Feenstra by more than 20 percentage points.