Johnson County local Iowa Sen. Zach Wahls, D- Coralville, hosted an event at ReUnion Brewery in Iowa City as a part of his campaign for the U.S. Senate. On April 14, about 70 people filled the restaurant to support Wahls.

Iowa’s 2026 U.S. Senate race shifted when Sen. Joni Ernst announced she would not seek reelection, leaving the state with its first open Senate seat in over a decade. Wahls is running alongside Iowa Rep. Josh Turek, D-Council Bluffs and U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa.

Iowa City Mayor Bruce Teague introduced Wahls at the event. He said Iowa City is excited for the opportunity to hopefully send him to Washington, especially because of his history here.

Teague said he and many citizens of Iowa City are seeking change for our country. He said Wahls knows what the common American needs and what they are longing for.

“We want to change, we want our next generation to live better than us,” Teague said. “What we’re going towards right now is not good, and that is why I am supporting Wahls.”

Tim Dwight, a former football player at the University of Iowa, said he and Wahls have known each other since 2011, and he has watched him grow up and fight for the right things. 

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Wahls is well known for going before the Iowa Legislature in 2011 as a college student to defend marriage rights for same-sex couples. Many event attendees listed this as one reason they support him.

“We need people like him to get up there and fight the right fights,” Dwight said. “And he’s always going to fight for what’s right because he’s got a great heart.”

Wahls said many of his values came from his mothers, Jackie and Terry. He believes many people in the room share the same ideals, such as the importance of integrity, hard work, family, and never forgetting where you come from.

“We can see that those values are not what is on display in Washington D.C., and I am running for the United States Senate because it is time to put Iowans over insiders,” Wahls said.

Wahls said he knows he can win back counties the Democrats have lost with the right message:  resonating with Iowans in big cities, small towns, suburbs, and rural communities.

Wahls promised that if elected to the U.S. Senate, he would not own, buy, trade, or sell any individual stocks or cryptocurrencies.

“You deserve a Senator who you trust is working for you, the taxpayer, not enriching themselves and their bank account at your expense,” Wahls said.

He said he would co-sponsor an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to overturn the Citizens United decision. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, this decision reversed campaign finance restrictions and allowed corporations, as well as other outside groups, to spend an unlimited amount of money on elections.

Wahls made a commitment to only serve two terms in the U.S. Senate if elected. He said he has seen what happens when both good and bad people remain in office too long.

Iowa City residents Charles and Claire Whiteman said they support Wahls and have known him since he was in high school. The couple said Wahls attended the same religious education group as their son, who would remark about how great he was.Charles Whiteman, a former UI professor of 32 years, had Wahls as a student. 

“He is a man of great integrity that we’ve known forever,” Whiteman said. “His heart is in the right place, and he is a very strong advocate for Iowa and Iowans.”

In an interview with The Daily Iowan, Wahls said he loved the time that he spent at the UI and that his experience was very exciting. Wahls said when attending the UI, his tuition was relatively affordable, but it has now become more of a challenge for students.

“Higher education has become so unaffordable for so many people, I think in part because we have so many elected officials who have been there for way too long who don’t understand how broken the system has become, or they just don’t care,” Wahls said. 

Wahls said he was thrilled to be back in Iowa City for this campaign event, and it was a special night for him.

“I look around this room, and I know so many of you watched me grow up, literally raised me,” he said. “I just want to say thank you to everybody for being here.”