Zach Lahn, businessman and farmer, takes on Rob Sand in Iowa gubernatorial race this midterms

Businessman and farmer Zach Lahn's Iowa campaign focuses on agriculture, education, healthcare and keeping young families in the state. Zach Lahn has entered Iowa politics as a political outsider, but his campaign is closely linked to the state’s farming and rural communities. A businessman, farmer and former education entrepreneur, Lahn is the Republican nominee for governor in 2026. He is campaigning on what he calls an “Iowa First” agenda, which places the state’s interests at the centre of his campaign.Zach Lahn, Republican candidate for Iowa governor, speaks during a campaign event (AP)Lahn grew up in western Iowa and describes himself as a sixth-generation Iowan. His father, Jim Lahn, studied agronomy, worked as a conservationist, and later served in pastoral ministry. The Lahn family’s farming history in Iowa goes back generations, although the family farm was sold in 2005 before Lahn eventually bought the property back.After graduating from Sioux City East High School, Lahn attended the University of Colorado and worked for Americans for Prosperity before entering the business world. He and his wife, Annie Lahn, founded Homeplace Ventures. He also helped establish Wonder, a private school in Wichita, and has worked in farming and real estate. Lahn and Annie have seven children in a blended family.Deep DiveLahn describes himself as his campaign’s biggest donor, but there is no reliable, publicly established figure for his personal net worth. His campaign has emphasised his business experience and personal investment in Iowa rather than publishing a conventional wealth estimate.His platform focuses heavily on agriculture, land ownership, education, healthcare, and population loss. Lahn wants to restrict foreign and out-of-state ownership of Iowa farmland, provide more opportunities for young farmers, and target agricultural monopolies through antitrust action. He also wants Iowa-owned companies to receive greater priority in economic development programmes.On education, Lahn supports strengthening public schools while taking a hard line against what he describes as political indoctrination in classrooms. His platform proposes revoking teaching licences when teachers are found to be promoting political agendas. He also wants Iowa universities to focus more heavily on areas such as cancer research and agriculture.Artificial intelligence also features in Lahn’s healthcare concerns. He has questioned the use of AI by private Medicaid companies to evaluate claims and has argued for greater competition and oversight in Iowa’s healthcare system.On Medicaid, he has said he would seek to improve the existing managed-care system rather than adopt Sand’s proposal to end contracts with the current for-profit providers. Lahn’s campaign has also criticised federal tariffs and trade policies when they affect Iowa agriculture, although his broader economic message focuses on protecting Iowa businesses and farmers from outside corporate influence.Also read: US midterm elections 2026: Voting date, polling hours, how to find your polling station and ID rulesThe Iran war has entered Iowa’s governor’s race largely through its impact on fuel prices, agriculture, and household costs. Lahn’s public platform does not make the conflict a central issue. Instead, it focuses on state-level concerns such as farming, healthcare, education, and affordability.One of the biggest controversies surrounding Lahn has been his residency. Critics have questioned whether he has maintained sufficient ties to Iowa while also owning a home in Kansas and spending time there. Lahn says he moved back to Iowa full-time in 2023 and that his travel to Kansas is connected to his blended family. Independent fact-checking has found evidence of continued ties to Kansas but has not established that he is legally ineligible to run.Ashka Singh is an undergraduate student of English Literature at Miranda House, University of Delhi, with an interest in the spaces between what is said and what is felt, and in the stories that acquire new meanings through different eyes. A recipient of national-level recognition from the Government of India, she has also been recognised twice for writing at the Amity Literary Meet. Her writing moves between the intimate and the social, often returning to questions of patriarchy, womanhood, relationships, and the invisible structures that shape life. Alongside her practice, she works with the editorial team of the Miranda House Students’ Union and leads content for AAVYA, the Animal Welfare Society of Miranda House. She finds herself most at home in poetry. This sensibility extends to her interest in cinema, psychology, music, and the layered aesthetics of Indian cultural traditions. She has a fondness for the unhurried beauty of ghazals, the cadence of shayari, and the lingering soul of a qawwali. Beyond the newsroom, she is likely to be found in the company of animals, particularly dogs - an affection she considers far less complicated than most human affairs. For Ashka, to write is to notice, to feel, and to remain truthful to both.Read More