# Zach Wahls

Zach Wahls is a Democratic member of the Iowa Senate for district 43.

- Party: Democrat
- Seat: Iowa Senate, district 43
- Serving since: 2023-01-03
- Current term: IA 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/ab4528a8-eeca-4562-8475-967ce868eb68

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/ab4528a8-eeca-4562-8475-967ce868eb68 (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

Wahls missed 50% of 589 roll calls, attendance in the bottom 5% of the Iowa Senate (average 93.9%).

## What Wahls says (IA 2025–26 session)

817 classified statements: 817 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State Senate Democrats average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Wahls | State Senate Democrats average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 3.4% | 2.4% | 74 of 329 |
| Policy criticism | 18.5% | 10.3% | 62 of 329 |
| Policy discussion | 33.5% | 42.9% | 228 of 329 |
| Bipartisanship | 1.7% | 3.4% | 199 of 329 |
| Credit claiming | 8.2% | 16.1% | 223 of 329 |
| Extreme labels | 0.9% | 0.8% | 77 of 329 |

Most discussed policy areas: Health 27% (State Senate Democrats 17%); Economics and Public Finance 24% (State Senate Democrats 10%); Government Operations and Politics 19% (State Senate Democrats 14%); Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues 9.8% (State Senate Democrats 8.4%); Labor and Employment 8.0% (State Senate Democrats 5.9%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score −0.46 (standard error 0.01), from 4,278 donors and 714 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 77% of State Senate Democrats score lower.

## Votes (IA 2025–26 session)

589 roll calls. Attendance 50% (Iowa Senate 93.9%). Party unity 87% (95.7%). 13 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-10-02 · voted not voting · Shall the bill pass? · HF 2801 A bill for an act modifying the major economic growth attraction program, and including effective date provisions. · pass · https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/HF2801/
- 2026-05-03 · voted yea · Shall the bill pass? · SF 2472 A bill for an act relating to state and local government taxes, fees, financial authority, and budgets, by modifying property assessment provisions,… · pass · https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/SF2472/
- 2026-05-03 · voted nay · Shall the bill pass? · HF 2788 A bill for an act relating to abortions including definitions, informed consent, dispensing of abortion-inducing drugs, and other abortion-related… · pass · https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/HF2788/
- 2026-05-02 · voted not voting · Shall the bill pass? · HF 2765 A bill for an act providing for the regulation of mining, making penalties applicable, and including effective date provisions. · pass · https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/HF2765/
- 2026-05-02 · voted not voting · Shall the bill pass? · HF 1036 A bill for an act relating to human trafficking, including screening children, civil statutes of limitations, an annual stakeholder meeting and… · pass · https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/HF1036/
- 2026-05-02 · voted not voting · Shall amendment S-5251 be adopted? · HF 1036 A bill for an act relating to human trafficking, including screening children, civil statutes of limitations, an annual stakeholder meeting and… · fail · https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/HF1036/
- 2026-05-02 · voted not voting · Shall the bill pass? · HF 2787 A bill for an act prohibiting warrant resolution clinics, including enforcement mechanisms, providing penalties, and including effective date… · pass · https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/HF2787/
- 2026-05-02 · voted not voting · Shall the bill pass? · HF 2781 A bill for an act relating to allocations of moneys from the juvenile detention home fund. · pass · https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/HF2781/
- 2026-05-02 · voted not voting · Shall the bill pass? · HF 2542 A bill for an act relating to habitual offenders, and providing penalties. · pass · https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/HF2542/
- 2026-05-02 · voted not voting · Shall the bill pass? · HF 2493 A bill for an act relating to the statewide preschool program by modifying provisions relating to eligibility, funding, and compulsory attendance and… · pass · https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/HF2493/

## Legislation (IA 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 57 bills: 57 reached committee, 1 passed one chamber, 0 passed both, 0 became law. Cosponsored 0. 1.8% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Iowa Senate 10.8%; rank 40 of 48).

Recent sponsored bills:

- SF 2397: A bill for an act relating to a public entity’s purchase or collection of health information from an entity not subject to the federal Health Insurance… (in committee, 2026-02-19) https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/SF2397/
- SF 2398: A bill for an act relating to the defense of justification for violent crimes. (in committee, 2026-02-19) https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/SF2398/
- SF 2381: A bill for an act relating to nonmedical pregnancy resource centers, making appropriations, and including effective date provisions. (in committee, 2026-02-19) https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/SF2381/
- SF 2276: A bill for an act providing for the processing and marketing of meat and poultry products, including by prohibiting vertical integration, providing for a… (in committee, 2026-02-11) https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/SF2276/
- SF 2277: A bill for an act relating to rights of employees and requirements of employers with respect to labor union membership. (in committee, 2026-02-12) https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/SF2277/
- SF 2272: A bill for an act providing for a veterans’ benefits and services poster for employers to display in the workplace. (in committee, 2026-02-12) https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/SF2272/
- SF 2278: A bill for an act prohibiting personalized algorithmic pricing and surveillance pricing at certain food retail establishments, and providing civil penalties. (in committee, 2026-02-12) https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/SF2278/
- SF 2269: A bill for an act appropriating moneys to Iowa state university of science and technology for use by the Iowa nutrient research center in supporting the Iowa… (in committee, 2026-02-11) https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/SF2269/
- SF 2241: A bill for an act relating to charter school requirements, including reporting requirements, governance standards, financial accountability, and oversight by… (in committee, 2026-02-16) https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/SF2241/
- SF 2249: A bill for an act relating to customer classes for large energy use facilities, and including applicability provisions. (in committee, 2026-02-12) https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/SF2249/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $33.4K (State Senate Democrats median $55.5K). 49% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Recent statements

Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only.

- 2026-10-22 · Post on X · https://x.com/zachwahls/status/2113059431118254388
- 2026-10-22 · Post on X · https://x.com/zachwahls/status/2113071696664056130
- 2026-10-19 · Post on X · https://x.com/zachwahls/status/2111995102336049526
- 2026-10-19 · Post on X · https://x.com/zachwahls/status/2111995260293222906
- 2026-10-19 · Post on X · https://x.com/zachwahls/status/2112020087527899440
- 2026-10-19 · Post on X · https://x.com/zachwahls/status/2112021455559168384
- 2026-10-19 · Post on X · https://x.com/zachwahls/status/2112026336059605102
- 2026-10-16 · Post on X · https://x.com/zachwahls/status/2110931313247076473
- 2026-10-13 · Post on X · labels: bipartisanship · https://x.com/zachwahls/status/2110120476899148059
- 2026-10-09 · Post on X · https://x.com/zachwahls/status/2108361574260077048

## Links

- Official site: https://www.senate.iowa.gov/senator/wahls/
- Campaign site: https://www.zachwahlsforiowa.com/
- X: https://x.com/zachwahls
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zach.wahls/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zachwahls/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachwahls/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/ab4528a8-eeca-4562-8475-967ce868eb68