Zach Lahn

Republican Party (R)
Governor · Iowa, United States of America · 2026
PurposeZach Lahn is running as the Republican candidate to succeed retiring Gov. Kim Reynolds in Iowa's open governor's race.

Economy
On the economy, the platform is built around "Iowa First" — prioritizing Iowa-owned businesses and local investment over out-of-state or foreign capital — and proposes tax rebates to help young Iowans afford a home down payment, plus a ban on Wall Street hedge funds buying single-family homes. It sets a goal of reversing the state's high rate of young-adult outmigration.

Health
Branded "Make Iowa Healthy Again," the health plank focuses on clean food, clean water, and what the campaign calls Iowa's cancer crisis — the state has the second-highest rate of new cancer diagnoses in the country — proposing independent state safety testing of products used in Iowa and redirecting University of Iowa medical research toward the state's cancer rates.

Agriculture/Food
On agriculture, the platform calls for restricting foreign and out-of-state ownership of Iowa farmland (citing more than 25% currently held by outside owners), raising property taxes on institutional land investors, pursuing antitrust action against agricultural monopolies, creating pathways for young farmers to access land and financing, and providing incentives for farmers to reduce agricultural runoff. It also calls for confiscating farmland the campaign says is illegally owned by Chinese interests and reselling it to young families and veterans.

Immigration
The platform calls for banning public benefits for people in the country illegally and ending H-1B visa sponsorship for jobs in state government and public universities that the campaign says Iowans could fill.

Education
On education, the campaign proposes revoking teaching licenses over what it calls political indoctrination in classrooms, creating "innovation zones" that give superintendents and principals more flexibility, reducing standardized testing in favor of skill mastery, and increasing the share of Iowa-resident enrollment at the state's public universities.

Governance
The campaign emphasizes that Lahn is self-funding his run to avoid donor influence, framing the whole platform around putting "Iowans First" in state decision-making.

Compiled from public sources. This entry was not submitted by the candidate or their team. It was researched and summarized by ElectionManifestos.org from public campaign statements and news coverage, because the candidate is standing in an upcoming election and no self-submission had been received yet.

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