Trump-endorsed U.S. Representative Ashley Hinson (R-IA), who is running against Democratic nominee and Iowa State Representative Josh Turek to occupy retiring Sen. Joni Ernst’s seat, told her supporters to channel their anger against Democrats, whom she says are “telling lies about us on TV.”
Hinson suggests channeling anger by “getting your friends out to vote” and she encouraged her supporters to “help give us a little gas money for our bus.”
Turek responded: “Multi-millionaire Ashley Hinson voted 7x to continue the war in Iran that’s driving up gas and diesel prices for Iowans. Now she’s begging for gas money while Iowans are struggling to fill up their tanks and Iowa farmers are struggling to afford the diesel to harvest their fields. That’s shameful.”
Multi-millionaire Ashley Hinson voted 7x to continue the war in Iran that’s driving up gas and diesel prices for Iowans. Now she’s begging for gas money while Iowans are struggling to fill up their tanks and Iowa farmers are struggling to afford the diesel to harvest their fields.
That’s shameful.
— Josh Turek (@turek4iowa) October 16, 2026
Other Trump critics are responding to Hinson’s money request with disbelief. Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo responded, “Oh man. I don’t think, can you pitch in to buy gas for our bus is really where the campaign message needs to be right now.”
Others are responding with sarcasm including a suggestion that Hinson ask the wife of Michigan Republican U.S. Senate nominee Mike Rogers for a $10 gas card. Last week, Rogers’s wife Kristi Rogers sparked widespread criticism after handing out $10 gas gift cards to drivers at a gas station in Detroit.
The New Republic called Mrs. Rogers’s act “cheap bribery” in her husband’s tight race against Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed, and “an illegal, desperate, and ironic move given that the spiking gas prices were directly caused by President Trump’s Iran war, which Rogers has supported wholeheartedly.”
[NOTE: Hinson has also been criticized for voting multiple times against House resolutions to curb President Donald Trump’s war in Iran while simultaneously calling for an immediate end to the war as gas prices continue to rise.]