Summary
- Jim Carlin is the first Iowa GOP Senate candidate in 2025.
- Served as Iowa State Senator from 2017 to 2023.
- Strongly loyal to Donald Trump and his conspiracy theories.
- Opposes election results, claims fraud in 2020 election.
Carlin, who was then a senator from Iowa, was a featured speaker at a Stand With President Trump rally in Orange City shortly after the November 2020 election. He made the unfounded claims that Trump was denied a second term because of a vast conspiracy and that Joe Biden did not win the 2020 election.
Carlin stood on the Iowa Senate floor three days after Biden was sworn in as president, saying that "widespread fraud" had stolen the election for Biden and that "tyranny's not at the door, it's in the house."
However, Carlin has failed to attract Trump's notice despite his numerous public gestures of fealty. Trump gave Rep. Ashley Hinson his Senate endorsement on Friday.
“I know Ashley well and she is a WINNER!”
Trump posted Friday on Truth Social.
“A Loving Wife and Proud Mother of two sons, Ashley is a wonderful person, has ALWAYS delivered for Iowa, and will continue to do so in the United State Senate.”
Three days prior, Hinson had declared her intention to run for the Senate, four hours after Sen. Joni Ernst declared she would not run for reelection. Hinson was endorsed by a continuous stream of Republicans in the House and Senate even before Trump posted.
With the exception of Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who has opposed Trump on a number of issues and is spearheading the fight to have the Epstein files made public, all Republican candidates are now required to show personal commitment to Trump.
Hinson has a history of lavishly praising the 79-year-old president and even criticizing attempts to hold him accountable for crimes committed while he was out of office. He has also consistently voted the way Trump has stated members of Congress should.
Prior to the Iowa Republican Caucus in January 2024, Hinson chose to stay neutral and did not back Trump. They claim that "Trump lieutenants" attempted to take advantage of Hinson's drive in order to eventually advance to the Senate and secure an endorsement. According to people familiar with the conversation, Hinson was informed five days prior to the Jan. 15 caucus that unless she endorsed Trump,
"she could expect no more, and perhaps less, than neutrality from Trump when the day came she wanted to succeed the 90-year-old dean of the delegation, Sen. Charles Grassley."
Naturally, Trump has never allowed principle to get in the way of his attempts to take credit for someone's position as the front-runner in the race, so he gave Hinson his "Complete and Total Endorsement" in his post on Friday.
For her part, Hinson has been praising Trump more lately.
“I think he’s going to go down as the best president in our history,”
she said in an interview on Sunday.
Regarding Trump's endorsement, Carlin hasn't commented publicly yet, but he can't have been shocked that Trump would support the candidate who is certain to win the nomination. Trump never brought up Carlin during his 2022 Senate campaign, instead endorsing Chuck Grassley.
How has Jim Carlin’s relationship with Trump influenced his policy positions?
Carlin has echoed Trump's unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and has placed himself firmly in the Trump-aligned group which has questioned election legitimacy and supports stricter voting laws.
Carlin supports Trump’s "America First" agenda with its conservative stances on immigration, deregulation, gun rights, and reduced government spending.
Carlin models aggressive positions on establishment Republicans, including accusations about not being sufficiently conservative and collaborations with Democrats, hoping to emulate Trump's style. The aggressive and combative populism of his rhetoric is often reminiscent of Trump’s, appealing to voters in the legislative districts who were frustrated with the traditional politicians they have historically elected into office, and has branded himself a Trumpist outsider.