Democrat announces run against Ernst after her ‘We’re all going to die’ comments

J.D. Scholten, a Democratic Iowa state representative and professional baseball player, has entered the race to take on Republican Sen. Joni Ernst in 2026 — prompted in part by her comments to constituents last week about potential cuts to Medicaid.

Ernst faced a number of agitated constituents at a town hall on Friday who expressed concerns that Republican cuts to Medicaid in the bill that would fund Trump’s legislative agenda. After one person in the audience shouted. “People are going to die!” Ernst responded, “Well, we’re all going to die.”

The incident “really hit home with me,” Scholten told ABC News in a brief interview. “We need better leadership than that.”

On Saturday, Ernst posted a sarcastic “apology” for her comments in what appeared to be a cemetery, saying, “I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that, yes, we are all going to perish from this earth. So I apologize, and I’m really, really glad that I did not have to bring up the subject of the tooth fairy as well.”

Scholten has run for higher office before, coming within a few points of unseating far-right Rep. Steve King in 2018. He lost the 2020 race for King’s old seat to Rep. Randy Feenstra by a wider margin and currently serves in the state house representing the Sioux City area.

He is currently a pitcher for the Sioux City Explorers of the American Association of Baseball, an independent Major League Baseball partner league.

Should he win the Democratic primary, Scholten said he also plans to make the race a referendum on President Donald Trump’s trade policy, noting that Iowa soybean farmers have been caught up in the trade war with China.

While some of Iowa’s House seats are considered competitive in 2026, Democrats have not won a Senate race in the state since 2008.

-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.