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Iowa Republican and former state lawmaker Jim Carlin announced Friday he is once again running for the U.S. Senate, this time seeking to challenge incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst in the 2026 Iowa GOP primary.

Carlin is a former state senator and attorney from Sergeant Bluff who served in the Iowa Legislature from 2017 to 2022. He is founder of the Iowa Liberty Network , a Christian, grassroots organization focused on electing “authentic, constitutional conservatives” to the Iowa Legislature and other public offices, according to its website.

Carlin previously ran unsuccessfully against Iowa Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley in 2022.

A staunch pro-Trump conservative who campai

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