Iowa City

Last Friday, Iowa gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn visited Big Grove Brewery in Iowa City, where he spoke to a crowd about his campaign and the reasons behind his run for office.

Lahn, a sixth-generation farmer, businessman, husband and father, lives in Belle Plaine with his wife, Annie, and their seven children. 

Originally from near Sioux City, he describes himself as a political outsider, having never held public office. After graduating from high school, Lahn attended the University of Colorado, earning a degree in political science. 

He later worked as the state director for Americans for Prosperity in Montana. Around that same time, he purchased his family’s farm, which had previously been sold in 2005.

In addition to his work in Montana, Lahn spent time in Wichita, Kansas, where he and his wife helped start the Wonder School at Wichita State University. The couple also founded Homeplace Ventures, a company focused on agriculture, real estate and technology.

During his remarks, Lahn explained that his decision to run for governor was not part of a long-term plan, but rather a response to concerns about the state’s future. 

“I never planned to run for office, but I felt like if I didn’t step up, we’d look back in 20 years and wonder why we didn’t do more for our kids and our future,” he said. He later added that strong leadership is needed, saying, “In this time of great consequence in our country, we need a man of full stature and not a weak-kneed Republican.”

Lahn outlined several key issues he believes are facing Iowa, including population decline, agriculture, education and public health. 

He pointed to what he described as a growing trend of young people leaving the state. “We’re losing our kids faster than 46 other states,” he said, adding that the loss impacts Iowa’s workforce, communities and long-term outlook.

He also raised concerns about the decline of family farms. “We’ve lost 10,000 family farms in the past 20 years,” Lahn said. “We need to make sure we’re supporting Iowa’s homegrown businesses and entrepreneurs who are going to have a long-term presence in our state.”

Education was another major focus of his speech. Lahn said Iowa’s school system has fallen from its previous standing. “We were once number one in the nation for education, and today we’re in the bottom half,” he said, calling for reforms to improve outcomes. 

He also emphasized support for public schools, stating, “The governor of Iowa has got to be the number one advocate for public school kids in the state.”

When asked about teacher salaries, Lahn said he supports rewarding high-performing educators but believes broader community growth must also be addressed. “I’d love to see merit-based pay for teachers, especially those doing a great job, but we also need to focus on growing our communities so we’re not losing students—especially in rural areas—and make our public schools so strong they can compete with anyone,” he said.

Lahn also discussed his overall campaign message, emphasizing an “Iowa first” approach. “This campaign is about putting Iowa first,” he said. “It’s about finding solutions that support Iowans above special interests, above giant corporations.”

Public health and water quality were also highlighted. Lahn pointed to high cancer rates in the state and stressed the need to reduce nitrate levels in water. 

“We have to clean up our water by reducing nitrate levels coming from both farms and urban areas,” he said, adding that solutions such as saturated buffers could help reduce runoff and improve water quality.

He also criticized how the state allocates economic incentives, arguing that too much support goes to large corporations. “We have hundreds of millions of dollars a year in tax credits going to very large companies and foreign companies,” he said.

That issue has taken on added relevance locally with the recent closure of Engineered Plastics (EPC) in Kalona. When asked how Iowa could prevent similar situations, Lahn said the state should prioritize businesses that create jobs and invest in communities.   

“Right now, we’re giving hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks to companies like data centers that create very few jobs, while Iowa-based manufacturers that actually employ people deserve that support more,” he said. “We need to focus our economic development dollars on homegrown businesses that are invested in our communities and will create long-term jobs.”