Greene County attorney enters crowded Iowa U.S. Senate race as Libertarian

Thomas Laehn, the Greene County attorney who became Iowa’s first Libertarian elected to partisan office in 2018, announced plans to run for Iowa's 2026 U.S. Senate seat.

Laehn, who had long been exploring a bid for the U.S. Senate seat, will kick off his campaign Saturday at the State Historical Building in Des Moines, where he plans to outline a platform focused on curbing executive power, ending eminent domain abuse and reducing the federal government’s role in domestic affairs.

“I am not running against the Republican candidate. Nor am I running against the Democratic candidate,” Laehn said. “I am running against the two-party system itself. It’s time to take political power away from the two major parties and restore it to the people.”

He’ll enter an increasingly crowded U.S. Senate contest, as multiple Republicans and Democrats compete for their party nominations following U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst’s decision to retire. Ernst, first elected in 2014, announced Sept. 2 that she will not seek another term.

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Curbing executive overreach

In an interview, Laehn said his campaign grew from frustration with what he called Congress’ abdication of its constitutional responsibilities. He criticized lawmakers for delegating vast authority to the presidency, allowing executive orders to shape policy.

“Presidents of both parties now make law by executive order and enter wars without declarations of war from Congress,” he said.

Laehn slammed Trump’s executive order purporting to make it a criminal offense to desecrate the American flag. Trump signed an executive order in August instructing the immediate arrest and one-year imprisonment of individuals who burn the American flag.

Laehn, a former university professor who taught constitutional law and political philosophy, noted that while there was some debate about whether flag burning is protected speech under the First Amendment, he argued that if a president can unilaterally create criminal offenses and imprison people for disobeying executive orders, then the country is no longer a republic but something closer to a monarchy or dictatorship.

Laehn noted he recommended his county not follow a mandate issued by former President Joe Biden’s administration that large businesses require their employees to either be vaccinated or tested once a week for the coronavirus. He noted that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with his view, declaring the mandate unconstitutional. Laehn said his stance was about the limits of presidential power, not about vaccines themselves.

Opposition to eminent domain for carbon pipeline projects

Laehn said he would make limiting eminent domain a central focus of his campaign, arguing the controversial Summit Carbon pipeline exemplifies “how wealthy donors manipulate government to their benefit.”

Calling the carbon capture project a “boondoggle,” Laehn said Congress should eliminate the federal tax credits that make the project financially viable. He also pledged to introduce legislation under the 14th Amendment defining “public use” more narrowly to prevent private corporations from seizing land for profit.

Shrinking Washington’s footprint

A self-described “preacher’s kid, professor, prosecutor and populist,” Laehn said he wants to reduce federal involvement in education, social welfare and foreign conflicts. He supports eliminating the U.S. Department of Education and scaling back the military’s global footprint.

“Our federal government is way beyond its kind of constitutional power,” he said, adding policy areas like criminal law, education and social welfare were meant to be handled by the states.

Laehn added that while he favors shrinking government spending, such reforms must come from Congress, not unilateral executive action.

Breaking the two-party grip

Laehn first won election as Greene County attorney in 2018 and was reelected in 2022. He said his campaign will aim to unite independents, disaffected Democrats and Republicans who feel unrepresented by the existing political structure.

Both major parties, he argued, have “corrupted” the nation’s constitutional system, left voters disillusioned and have little incentive to change a structure that sustains their power.

He accused members of Congress of shifting responsibility to the president “for their own electoral self-interest,” allowing lawmakers to focus instead on speeches, constituent services and courting donors.

“We’re not going to have meaningful reform in this country,” Laehn said, “until voters elect a third party to office.”

Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com