Iowa Democratic candidates drew a crowd to Grinnell’s Central Park for cookies, lemonade and conversations about the upcoming midterm elections in early November 2026.
The event, dubbed “Cookies with Democrats,” was organized by Poweshiek County Democrats and held on Sept. 21. In attendance were U.S. Senate candidates Zach Wahls and Jackie Norris, U.S. House candidates Kathy Dolter and Clint Twedt-Ball, and Iowa attorney general candidate Nate Willems.
Sam Cox, owner of Saint’s Rest Coffee House and Grinnell mayoral candidate, opened the event with a speech.
“I believe it’s time for Grinnell’s first female mayor,” Cox said.
Willems, a long-time lawyer and former member of the Iowa House of Representatives, is vying to challenge incumbent Iowa Attorney General, Republican Brenna Bird, for her seat.
Throughout his speech, Willems focused on protecting workers’ rights in the statehouse, emphasizing his experience in handling wage theft cases throughout his career. Willems said that Iowa employers are retaining up to $900 million from their employees in the form of off-the-clock work, unpaid overtime, tip theft, illegal deductions and misclassification.
“I’m running for Attorney General because I want to investigate and prosecute corporations that steal from their workers,” he said.
Also at the event was Norris, who currently chairs the Des Moines School Board and has previously served as Chief of Staff to the First Lady in 2009 under Michelle Obama and as CEO of Goodwill of Central Iowa.
She is running for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican Joni Ernst, who has announced she won’t be running for re-election. Ashley Hinson, who currently holds Iowa’s 2nd congressional district seat, is also running for the seat as a Republican.
Norris began her speech by addressing political violence in America, referencing Hinson’s remark calling the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk a “left-wing problem” on a recent conference call with reporters.
“Political violence is not a left thing or a right thing, it’s an American problem,” said Norris, whose speech focused on unity and moving towards peace. “Violence should never exist. Period. End of sentence.”
Norris said her priorities include affordable child care, higher pay for care workers, stronger labor rights and tougher clean-water protections.
Heading for the Democratic primary with Norris, Wahls made his second stop at Grinnell so far this campaign season. He currently serves as a member of the Iowa Senate and has previously served as the Iowa House minority leader.
Wahls, who was raised by two mothers and has been a lifelong advocate of LGBTQ+ rights, said his upbringing has impacted his leadership style and pushed him to “listen to what people are telling you, and think critically about how you can address what they have to say.”
Wahls said the current tax policies on the ultra-wealthy have squeezed families with costs like child care and health care.
“The economy is working exactly the way it has been designed to work by the people at the very top,” said Wahls.
Wahls said his priorities are defending public schools and reproductive rights, securing clean water, protecting veterans’ care, capping drug costs like insulin, funding infrastructure and shielding mobile-home residents from predatory rent hikes.
At the end of his speech, he said 2026 offers a rare chance for Democrats to flip one of Iowa’s U.S. Senate seats and finished with a direct challenge to Hinson, “Bring it on!”
In an interview following his speech, Wahls said he decided to launch his campaign to block incumbent Senator Ernst’s agenda for 2025, which he called terrible.
U.S. House candidates took to the stage as well.
Dolter is a lifelong medical professional who has previously served as dean of nursing at Kirkwood Community College and as a U.S. Army nurse.
“I’m running for Congress because I’m a nurse, and I can’t just stand by while people are suffering. I need to do something,” said Dolter, addressing her motivation to run for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District.
Dolter presented a list of 10 points, amongst which are repealing the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” a sweeping legislative package championed by President Donald Trump and Congress Republicans, and which she dubbed the “big bad bill.” She said repealing it would be the most straightforward way to restore Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, end current tariff policies and strengthen democracy.
She also called for raising the poverty level and minimum wage, humane immigration with a path to citizenship, major health-care reforms, including stronger programs for veterans and expanded Medicaid and restoring clean energy and Environmental Protection Agency Reform.
Fellow candidate Clint Twedt-Ball is a pastor and founder of the religious non-profit Matthew 25: Ministries in Cedar Rapids that focuses on community building and donating food to those in need.
Twedt-Ball described himself as a “ridiculously optimistic person” and drew on his prior experience.
He said he would give power to the people and fight corruption. One example, he added, was how in 2007, Matthew 25: Ministries raised $6 million dollars to rebuild homes in Cedar Rapids after the severe floods.
This article has been updated to correct a misspelling of Clint Twedt-Ball’s name. Updated 9/29/25.
