A Republican senator who was elected to his seat eight years before Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico was even born is worried he could die in office — and that a Democratic governor could pick his replacement.
The Washington Post reports that 93-year-old Sen. Chuck Grassley aired his fears at a Republican fundraiser last weekend, as Iowa Republicans confront the possibility of a “midterm wipeout” in what’s normally reliably conservative territory.
Grassley recently did not rule out another run.
“I don’t plan on dying in office,” Grassley told the crowd at the state GOP’s Reagan Dinner honoring outgoing Sen. Joni Ernst. “But if I did, I don’t want a Democrat governor choosing my successor.”
The scenario Grassley described “was once unthinkable,” the Post reported.
State auditor Rob Sand, the “baby-faced Democrat” who has led recent polling in the governor’s race could be in a position where he could pick the replacement for the state’s senior senator. Iowa has been “governed by a GOP trifecta” since Donald Trump’s rise nearly a decade ago. Should Grassley leave office before 2028, either Sand or his Republican opponent would make the pick.
The “party’s anxiety spilled into public view” when conservative radio host Steve Deace warned on social media that internal polling has Iowa Republicans underwater even in some previously safe districts, adding it “might end being an even worse midterm environment than 2006.” The Iran war’s hit to diesel and gas prices, a trade fight squeezing soybean growers, and an economy that shrank in the first quarter of 2026 — ranking Iowa 48th nationally for growth — have all piled onto a state Trump carried by more than 13 points in 2024.
“So the vibe, generally speaking, is not great,” one Iowa Republican strategist told the Post, comparing the mood to Democrats’ 2006 wave. “It feels like it could be a wipeout.”
The warning signs have already prompted a scramble among Iowa Republicans to curb the governor’s power before Sand can take it, the Post report added.
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