Democrats are targeting Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) by tying the congresswoman and her donors to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
A new ad released Friday by the Win Senate political action committee, which backs Democrats running for U.S. Senate, alleges Hinson’s top donors appear in the files related to the investigation into Epstein hundreds of times, adding that the congresswoman voted to oppose releasing the documents and missed other votes on them.
“Instead, she was raising money from a billionaire who’s in the Epstein files over 20 times,” the ad says of Hinson’s attendance. “Ashley Hinson put her donors before her duty. She’s not for Iowa.”
The Senate Majority PAC, another organization that boosts Democratic Senate candidates, also shared the ad and called Hinson a “pedophile protector.”
“Josh Turek and his liberal allies will do anything to get him elected — including peddling pathetic lies,” Hinson’s campaign communications director, Billy Fuerst, told the Washington Examiner. “Ashley voted to release the Epstein Files and is a staunch advocate for victims’ rights. She believes that any creep who abused young women and girls should rot in jail. The desperation from Turek and the Democrats is astounding and disgusting.”
According to the House clerk, Hinson voted in favor of the Epstein Transparency Act introduced by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) last year. The “no” vote cited in the ad was not an up-or-down vote on releasing the Epstein files, but rather a procedural vote in July 2025 that blocked a Democratic attempt to force consideration of a measure to release them.
At the time, Hinson explained that she voted against the Democratic effort because she did not feel it was the correct way to make the files public, because it would give the floor to Democrats, which she said “is not how we should be doing business.”
With roughly six weeks until the general election, Hinson’s opponent, Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek, has also accused the congresswoman of having ties to donors tied to Epstein, calling her “corrupt.”
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“Ashley Hinson is a corrupt D.C. politician who has repeatedly hurt Iowans to enrich herself and her Epstein-linked billionaire donors,” Turek’s campaign previously told the Washington Examiner.
Democrats used the Epstein files as an anti-Trump messaging tactic earlier in the year, but the outrage over the botched rollout and public concern has since been eclipsed by other policies dogging Trump and Republicans during this year’s midterm elections, including the Iran war and rising oil and gas prices.
Recent polls show Turek with a slight edge in November, but Hinson has been banking on her bipartisan approach to lawmaking during her tenure, and her commitment to working hard will boost her odds. The race is rated a “toss-up” by the Cook Political Report.