Hannah Fingerhut

Just days before national Democrats gather for their annual summer meeting, Iowa’s state party officials on Thursday said it was a mistake for the party to have abandoned Iowa in the 2024 early nominating calendar and opened up the possibility of going rogue the next time around.

An Iowa Democratic state lawmaker bowed out of the 2026 U.S. Senate primary race on Monday and endorsed a fellow legislator as the “best hope” to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, who has yet to formally announce her bid for a third term.