Government + Politics

State Sen. Liz Mathis to challenge U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson in 2022

By: Katie Akin - July 27, 2021 3:28 pm

Democrat Liz Mathis will challenge incumbent Rep. Ashley Hinson for the 1st District seat in 2022. (Headshots courtesy of Iowa Legislature, Capitol photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Democratic State Sen. Liz Mathis announced Tuesday she will challenge U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson for the 1st District House seat in 2022.

“It’s clear Iowans want leaders who care about fairness, honesty, and putting service ahead of politics. That is why I am running,” Mathis said in a tweet announcing her candidacy.

Mathis was elected to the Iowa Senate in a 2011 special election in a district representing for Marion and Hiawatha. Before that, she worked as a television journalist for KWWL-TV in Waterloo and KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids, where Hinson and Mathis were coworkers.

Hinson defeated one-term incumbent Rep. Abby Finkenauer in 2020, flipping the seat. Finkenauer has announced she will challenge U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley in 2022.

The reports are true: I am running for Congress in #IA01. It’s clear Iowans want leaders who care about fairness, honesty, and putting service ahead of politics. That is why I am running. Together, we can flip this seat blue. Let’s get to work! pic.twitter.com/dGuru0J6K7

— Liz Mathis (@LizMathis1) July 27, 2021

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Katie Akin

Katie Akin is a former Iowa Capital Dispatch reporter. Katie began her career as an intern at PolitiFact, debunking viral fake news and fact-checking state and national politicians. She moved to Iowa in 2019 for a politics internship at the Des Moines Register, where she assisted with Iowa Caucus coverage, multimedia projects and the Register’s Iowa Poll. She became the Register’s retail reporter in early 2020, chronicling the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Central Iowa’s restaurants and retailers.