MAHA-backed candidate wins Iowa GOP gubernatorial primary

Businessman Zach Lahn defeated Rep. Randy Feenstra in the Iowa GOP gubernatorial primary this month. Lahn was endorsed by the Make America Healthy Again movement while Feenstra had support from President Donald Trump. MAHA PAC sent text messages to nearly 350,000 likely Iowa GOP voters and voicemails to more than 83,000 cellphones.

The group also placed 40,500 get-out-the-vote calls and three rounds of robocalls to more than 36,000 landlines.

The Make America Healthy Again coalition formed during Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. 's 2024 presidential campaign. The group later endorsed President Trump's campaign. Tensions have increased between MAHA and the Trump administration over issues including glyphosate.

The administration supported Bayer in the Monsanto Company v. Durnell case and issued an executive order shielding manufacturers from liability related to the herbicide.

MAHA figures "We don't tell people how to vote, but moms have clearly demonstrated that we are not beholden to a political party," said Zen Honeycutt, founder and executive director of the Moms Across America Movement. "MAHA is not owned by one particular person.

" "Our mission is to champion policy and public servants who put children, health, safety, and America's future first. And that's exactly what Zach Lahn is doing, and why we're so thrilled that he won," Honeycutt said. "With Trump signing his executive order, where he said that glyphosate is essential to our food supply, it kind of pissed a lot of people off," said Claire Dooley, a MAHA mother and documentary filmmaker.

"I think this is just the beginning, really," Dooley said.