Senate Ethics Committee dismisses complaint against Sen. Zach Wahls

The Iowa Senate Ethics Committee voted Friday to dismiss a complaint against state Sen. Zach Wahls, D-Coralville, for his past employment as executive director of the Next 50 Network while serving in the state Legislature.

The complaint, filed by Kathy Ulrich of Cedar Rapids, alleges Wahls, who is running to become the Democratic candidate for Iowa’s U.S. Senate seat in 2026, violated state Senate ethics rules by working for the Next 50 Network. The network is an LLC based in New York focused on “investing in next-generation candidates” for the Democratic Party, according to its website.

The Next 50 Network LLC has an affiliated nonprofit called Next 50 Action, which Wahls served as a non-voting, ex-officio officer. The company is also affiliated with a political action committee called Next 50 PAC.

The complaint argues Wahls’ work for the organization violates the Senate’s ethic rules which state, “a senator shall not accept employment, either directly or indirectly, from a political action committee or from an organization exempt from taxation under section 501(c)(4), 501(c)(6) or 527 of the Internal Revenue Code that engages in activities related to the nomination, election or defeat of a candidate for public office.”

The complaint pointed to the fact that the LLC had received a $100,000 contribution in 2024 from Third Way, a national political organization, which violated rules prohibiting work for an organization that accepts contributions or makes expenditures of more than $100,000 in a year related to advocating for the nomination, election or defeat of a candidate for public office. It also points to the fact that Next 50 Action — which had its Iowa address listed as Wahls’ home address — had provided “communications and logistical support and assisted in research and vetting for The Next 50 PAC.

In a response to the complaint through attorney Matthew Gannon, Wahls said his employment did not violate Senate ethics rules because he worked for the LLC, not for the Next 50 PAC or a prohibited nonprofit organization. The response also included correspondence in which Wahls received guidance from Iowa Secretary of the Senate Charlie Smithson that his employment with the Next 50 Network LLC would not violate Senate ethics rules, as long as Wahls did not directly oversee affiliated PACs or nonprofit entities.

The Ethics Committee reviewed the complaint Friday, and ultimately voted unanimously to dismiss the complaint unless further substantiating information is produced within the next 120 days.

Before this action was taken, Senate Republicans had voted to dismiss the complaint while referring the issue to the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board for review. Senate Democrats, which make up three of the six members of the Ethics Committee, rejected that proposal and it failed on a tie vote. The three Republicans on the committee then rejected Democrats’ proposal immediately dismiss the complaint.

“Based on the evidence before us, there is not clear and convincing evidence that Sen. Wahls violated Senate ethics rules,” Sen. Cindy Winckler, D-Des Moines, said at the committee meeting. “This was a very difficult situation, and it is due to lack of evidence. And our rules require that in order to take further action, it must be clear and convincing.”

Ulrich, who filed the complaint, had made a Facebook post signaling her support for Rep. Josh Turek, D-Council Bluffs, who is running against Wahls in the 2026 Democratic primary to become the U.S. Senate nominee. Wahls said in a statement the complaint was brought as a political attack by the Turek campaign.

“This baseless complaint brought by the Turek campaign was unanimously dismissed by the bipartisan Iowa Senate Ethics Committee,” Wahls said. “The Turek campaign is worried the $10 million that Chuck Schumer’s dark money network is spending to try and buy Josh the Senate nomination won’t be enough. I thank the committee for quickly resolving this matter.”

The Turek campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Wahls’ statement. Wahls and Turek are competing in the June 2 primary. Early voting has already begun in the race.