In the 2026 primary election cycle, The FAMiLY Leader endorsed five candidates in legislative races:
- Rep. Devon Wood (HD 17)
- Rep. Barb Kniff McCulla (HD 37)
- Austin Stubbs (HD 45)
- Rep. Carter Nordman (HD 47)
- Rep. Helena Hayes (HD 88)
We are pleased to report that all five of these candidates won on June 2!
The biggest win of the five was Austin Stubbs’s upset victory in Polk County. His opponent, Brian Lohse, was an incumbent who has been a major problem in the Iowa House. Lohse was a consistent “no” vote on legislation we supported. He voted against keeping biological males out of girls’ bathrooms. He didn’t support the Heartbeat bill. He’s a “no” on school choice. He couldn’t even agree that minors should be protected from gender transition surgeries.
Austin Stubbs is a breath of fresh air. We first met Austin about two years ago when he came to us interested in running for office. He was conservative in every way you could ask for, and he was humble, ready to learn and work. He quickly became a friend, and we were excited to endorse him when he announced his run for the Iowa House.
Our candidate was outspent 8 to 1. But Austin worked hard, and TFL invested resources into mailers, digital ads, and more. We got the word out that Austin was the much better choice for Iowa families.
The result? Austin Stubbs won by a margin of about 50 percentage points!
We look forward to working with Austin to make Iowa a pro-family state for many years to come.
