J.D. Scholten launches run after U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst’s statement on Medicaid

GOP senator draws national criticism for saying ‘we are all going to die’
Iowa Rep. J.D. Scholten, D-Sioux City, launched a run to challenge U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst Monday in the wake of her remarks at a town hall that garnered national backlash from Democrats and health care advocates.
Ernst made her controversial remark, “we are all going to die,” at a Parkersburg town hall Friday after a person in the crowd shouted “people will die” as she was discussing funding cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The cuts are included in the “big, beautiful” budget reconciliation bill passed by the U.S. House in May.