Iowa Talking Points — Thomas Laehn, Libertarian Candidate, U.S. Senate — Iowa

Thomas Laehn, the Greene County Attorney, made history in 2018 as the first Libertarian ever elected to partisan office in Iowa — and was reelected in 2022. Now he is running for Iowa's open U.S. Senate seat, with Republican Joni Ernst not seeking reelection. A self-described "preacher's kid, professor, prosecutor and populist," Laehn grew up in Allison, Iowa and studied at Drake University, Louisiana State University, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem before teaching constitutional law and political philosophy at McNeese State University. He earned his law degree from the University of Iowa in 2017.

His campaign centers on curbing executive power, ending eminent domain abuse — particularly targeting carbon capture pipeline projects and the federal tax credits that fund them — reducing the federal government's role in education and social welfare, and restoring constitutional limits on presidential authority. Laehn joined Jeff Stein at Iowa Talking Points Studio to make his case for why Iowa and America are ready for a third-party U.S. Senator.