Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and its affiliated super PAC will spend $3.2 million campaigning in Iowa for House, Senate, and gubernatorial races in the 2026 midterm elections.
The Iowa campaign is part of the $80 million the prominent anti-abortion group pledged in November to help several key swing states in the midterm elections in the hopes of bolstering the anti-abortion cause within the GOP.
Iowa is not usually listed among swing states, but this season’s midterm elections have the potential to be highly competitive in the Buckeye State.
The state’s Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds announced in April she would not be seeking reelection in 2026. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) announced the same in September.
On top of those vacancies, Republican Iowans in the state’s 1st Congressional District will likely be faced with tough competition to reelect Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who won by less than 800 votes in her 2024 campaign.
Billy Valentine, SBA’s chief of political affairs, told the Washington Examiner that the circumstances in Iowa offer a unique opportunity for his organization to intervene in a typically GOP stronghold.
“From our perspective, we looked at Iowa, we saw a competitive governor’s race, potentially competitive Senate race, and then a really competitive House race, and thought, Okay, this is a state where we can go in and make a difference,” Valentine said.
SBA endorsed both Miller-Meeks for reelection and Senate candidate Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) to replace Ernst, since both have solid anti-abortion voting records from their time in Congress.
But the group has not yet decided whether to endorse any GOP candidates in the crowded gubernatorial primary on June 2.
The Democrat candidate, Iowa Auditor of State Rob Sand, has amassed an $18 million war chest so far, more than double the $7.2 million combined for all four GOP gubernatorial candidates.
Sand has been a vocal detractor of Iowa’s six-week gestational age limit on abortion and promised, as governor, to do everything within his power to protect reproductive rights.
Valentine said Sand’s position is “way outside where most Iowans are on the life issue,” which SBA canvassers will focus on when going door-to-door.
“Whether we’ll end up wading into that gubernatorial primary, that’s yet to be seen, but we know for sure we can already start educating voters on Rob Sand and where he stands on abortion,” Valentine said.
The anti-abortion movement has been on rocky footing in the elections since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, with several states passing abortion-rights ballot initiatives in every election since.
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The movement, and SBA in particular, has also found itself at odds with President Donald Trump on key issues important to the anti-abortion cause, including his administration’s lack of urgency on calls to tighten restrictions on the abortion pill mifepristone.
Valentine said this year’s election in Iowa could be influential, looking ahead to the 2028 election in choosing the next Republican candidate for president, which could determine the future of the relationship between the anti-abortion movement and the GOP.
Valentine said Reynolds played a crucial role in swaying the 2020 Iowa caucuses, one of the earliest determining events of each presidential election cycle.
“We’ve got to win these elections in 2026, but certainly, Iowa always plays a role,” said Valentine. “We’re going to have an open presidential field in 2028, and that election begins basically the day after the midterms are over,” Valentine said.
