Iowa Senate candidate Ashley Hinson touts congressional stock ban, while a loophole fueled her own wealth

In a campaign ad published last month for her U.S. Senate bid, U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) looks directly into the camera and says, “Members of Congress should not trade stocks.” On the campaign trail, Hinson has repeatedly leaned into this narrative, boasting that she “proactively” sold her individual stocks to send a message to Iowans that she did not run for office to get wealthy.

But a closer look at Hinson’s federal financial disclosures and her recent votes in Congress, reveals a gap between her campaign rhetoric and her personal finances. While Hinson did divest from just publicly traded stocks, her family’s net worth quietly skyrocketed by up to 10 times since she was sworn into office in January 2021.

Within months of Hinson taking her seat in Congress, her husband, Matthew Arenholz, sold his ownership stake in an insurance company called Elliott Hartman Agency to a private equity platform for more than $1 million. Following the sale, the couple retained between $1 million and $5 million in private stock in the consolidated company. Because Hinson only divested from public equities, this massive private portfolio remained completely intact — propping up a family net worth that climbed from a maximum of $1.6 million before she took office to as much as $8 million by 2024.

While Hinson publicly claims that serving in Congress should be “a privilege, not an investment opportunity,” the legislative reforms she champions would not even touch her family’s primary financial asset. Earlier this year, Hinson proudly touted her co-sponsorship of the Stop Insider Trading Act (SITA), a bill she claimed would “drain the swamp” by banning individual stock trading.

However, prominent government accountability organizations — including Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) — strongly opposed the legislation. In a letter sent to Congress on Feb. 12, the watchdog groups pointed out that the bill merely restricts members from purchasing new shares of stock and only requires a seven-day notice before selling existing ones.

“Passing SITA would serve to hide insider trading, not stop it, leading to more of the exact same problems — issues that have again drawn public attention in 2026,” the letter says. “The only path forward that can rejuvenate the American people’s faith in Congress is serious reform through meaningful bipartisan cooperation. SITA does not come close to qualifying as real reform.”

SITA also does nothing to ban ownership of existing assets, meaning Hinson could continue to hold millions in private insurance stock while voting on federal policies that can directly impact the industry.

Last December, Hinson refused to sign a House discharge petition that would have forced a floor vote on the End Congressional Stock Trading Act. Unlike the weaker bill (SITA) that Hinson later co-sponsored, that legislation would have enacted a sweeping ban on both stock trading and ownership for members of Congress, their spouses, and their dependent children — a restriction that would have forced Hinson to choose between her family’s private equity portfolio and her campaign-trail promises.

Hinson’s campaign did not respond to a request to comment for this story.

On June 2, 2026, Hinson defeated former Iowa state Rep. Jim Carlin in the state’s U.S. Senate Republican primary race. Hinson will face state Rep. Josh Turek (D) in the general election this November, who has also called for banning congressional stock trading. In an emailed statement to Heartland Signal, Turek’s campaign said Hinson has sold out Iowans.

“Ashley Hinson is a multi-millionaire who has increased her wealth by up to ten times in the five years she has been in Congress. She refused to support a ban on members of Congress from owning and trading stock and has repeatedly sold out Iowans to enrich herself and her ultra-rich corporate donors,” a Turek spokesperson said. “Meanwhile, Josh Turek knows the struggle Iowans are feeling right now because he’s lived it. He grew up in a working class family that went to the Goodwill for their clothes and relied on the free summer lunch program. Josh is uniquely positioned to hold Ashley Hinson accountable for her rampant corruption because it is working families like his that pay the price for her actions.”

The Hinson and Turek are vying for an open Senate seat currently held by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), who is not seeking a third term this year. After Turek’s primary win, Cook Political Report shifted Iowa’s U.S. Senate race from “Likely Republican” to “Lean Republican.”