For Iowa native JD Scholten, hearing the woman now nicknamed Joni “Hearse” tell constituents to suck it up and accept death was the moment he knew he had to get in the game.
“It almost felt like a calling,” Scholten told Daily Kos on Friday.
Becoming known as the bringer of death probably wasn’t on Sen. Joni Ernst’s 2025 vision board, but after the Republican callously told voters during a town hall last week that Medicaid cuts weren’t that big of a deal because “we all are going to die,” the energy across the Midwest—and the country—shifted.
Instead of apologizing, Ernst doubled down in a video, sarcastically telling everyone that she was “really, really glad that I did not have to bring up the subject of the tooth fairy as well.”
Soon after, her insensitive remark—and lack of remorse—earned Ernst a challenger.
Scholten announced his Senate run on Monday, saying he could no longer “sit on the sidelines after Joni’s recent town hall.”
On Friday afternoon, he spoke with Daily Kos from a hotel room before pitching for the Sioux City Explorers. The professional baseball player’s message to Ernst is clear: “Game on.”
“My kind of campaign [is] where we go out and talk to people, lift up other people’s voices, and tap into what’s impacting them,” he said.
Related: Joni Ernst’s ‘we all are going to die’ disaster earns her a challenger
Some days, that means attending town halls and talking to farmers struggling to pay for medical care. And on others, Scholten is in the bullpen with his teammates working to understand the issues that matter to them, too.
“I listen to them every single day,” he said. And while they mostly spend their time focusing on the sport, Scholten explained, he’s still able to discuss political topics on a personal level.
“I don’t have to hire some consultant to do a focus group. I talk to these guys like, ‘Hey, what do you think about this? What are your thoughts about this?’ And I find ways to phrase things to make them interested in [joining] our coalition,” he said.
While Iowa has become more conservative over the past few years, it’s historically been a bit of a swing state. And as Scholten plans to purchase a Winnebago to hit the campaign trail, talking to Iowans about the issues impacting them is what matters most.
“We have a GoFundMe health care system, we have a JBS food system, and we have a Dollar General economy,” he told Daily Kos. “All of those things are broken, and they’re not working for everyone.”
Scholten’s baseball season will end in a few months, but his 2026 Senate race is just heating up.