Zach Lahn, the MAHA Action-backed candidate for Iowa governor, is a sixth-generation Iowan who bought his great-grandparents’ 155-acre homestead in 2014 to raise organic oats and other crops (and his young family) regeneratively. He’s been campaigning tirelessly on a “Make Iowa Healthy Again” platform that includes supporting Iowa farmers, preventing out-of-state ownership of Iowa land, and boosting education opportunities.
Lahn has also proposed procuring 80% of public school meals from Iowa farmers, and pledges on his website to “break up monopolies, defend independent farms, and demand accountability from corporations who harm our people.”
Those are fighting words.
Lahn’s impact on Iowa, and the nation, has already been seismic. On June 2, he defeated establishment Republican congressman Randy Feenstra in Iowa’s gubernatorial primary; President Trump endorsed Feenstra. It didn’t matter. Conservative voters favored a MAHA health and regenerative farming policy platform in America’s No. 1 corn-producing and No. 2 soy-producing state, which portends well for other Republicans who, over the next four weeks, before their primary elections, lean into MAHA.
With passion and tireless commitment to the MAHA mission, Lahn has steadily won over his detractors, who often resort to character assassinations rather than engage on issues. Lahn has challenged Big Ag and Big Pharma by criticizing their products, like glyphosate, and claiming they have sickened Iowans.
But, in the race for governor, he’s no shoo-in. He’s up against State Auditor Rob Sand, and the deep-pocketed Iowa Democratic apparatus supporting him. On July 14, Sand reported nearly $18 million in cash on hand, compared with Lahn’s $1 million. It helps to have rich relatives. $11.52 million in campaign contributions come from his wife and in-laws, who operate an agribusiness corporation.
The polls
Midterms are notoriously difficult to predict, and independent voters may also feature as a wild card in 2026. Still, most polls show Sand with a slight edge over Lahn, but a late-August Iowa State Fair straw poll showed Lahn winning 64% among participating fairgoers versus 36% for Sand.
The Lahn campaign asserts that its messaging continues to attract broad bipartisan support, pledging that the “Lahn Train” is not slowing down.
For his part, Lahn attributes his success to the MAHA messaging he chose to prioritize as a conservative candidate, and pledges that the “truth” his campaign is focusing on in the general election has not deviated from his focus throughout the primary: “talking about the big agricultural conglomerates that are extorting our farmers, talking about clean water and how we need to lower our cancer rates….”
Lahn calls his MAHA-inspired principles an “Iowa First” platform, putting human health above corporate greed. It’s a refreshing message from a conservative in a strongly conservative, row-cropping state. Lahn is not just running for office: he’s moving the regenerative needle into the heartland of conventional agriculture.
MAHA grassroots keeps growing
Lahn’s embrace of the MAHA movement’s principles reflects a broader, grassroots embrace by Americans from diverse backgrounds of the simple premise that healthy, local food is a sensible counterpoint to the nation’s chronic disease epidemic.
Lahn has demonstrated his resolve in the face of adversity, and, four weeks out from the midterms, his MAHA message has prevailed over his better-funded competition.
Iowa is one of the most important agricultural states in the nation. Under Governor Zach Lahn, it can become a national leader in MAHA policy. That’s where you come in.
