Top Iowa Democrats Urge Kamala Harris to Stay Away From Their State Ahead of Midterms

Two of Iowa’s most prominent Democratic candidates have urged former Vice-President Kamala Harris to stay away from their state ahead of the midterms.

Iowa gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand was asked by POLITICO’s Jonathan Martin whether he wanted Harris to come and campaign for him.

“No thanks,” he responded: Let’s move on. We need some new leadership.”

Asked whether Harris should run again in 2028, his answer was similarly emphatic.

”No,” he said.

Watch the clip below:

First high-profile Dem to answer this question directly

You’d think that after saying one thing in public and another in private from ‘21-June ‘24 about Biden and Kamala, more Dems would live their truth ™ ! https://t.co/a3vClHbQON

— Jonathan Martin (@jmart) August 26, 2026

Meanwhile, The Washington Examiner reports that Senatorial candidate Josh Turek has issued a similar warning.

Their report states:

Democratic Senate candidate Josh Turek similarly does not want Harris near his campaign against Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) to replace retiring Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA)

Turek’s campaign told the Washington Examiner he has no plans to campaign with Harris and is not seeking her support.

In 2024, Turek, an Iowa state representative, outperformed Harris by roughly 13 points in his district, illustrating the dramatically different political coalitions the two Democrats assembled in Iowa.

Over in Alaska, former Rep. Mary Peltola also distanced herself from Harris as she campaigns to unseat Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in the state’s Senate race.

Harris had attempted to boost Peltola, sending supporters a fundraising email asking them to contribute to both her own political operation and Peltola’s campaign.

“If there’s anyone who can flip Alaska and secure the Senate majority for Democrats — it’s Mary,” the email says.

But Peltola, who won Alaska’s at-large House seat in 2022 before losing it two years later, quickly made clear that she was not seeking Harris’s backing.

“Mary isn’t seeking endorsements from anyone from the Lower 48 — her focus is and always will be Alaska,” a campaign spokeswoman said, according to Anchorage station KTUU.

After losing the 2024 presidential election by a landslide, Harris briefly flirted with the possibility of a campaign for governor of California before eventually abandoning the idea.

According to the latest RealClearPolitics polling average, Harris currently remains the favorite to win the Democratic nomination with 27.6 percent support.

Those trailing her include Gavin Newsom on 16.4 percent, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on 11.6 percent and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on 9.4 percent.