A new Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation (ITRF) poll of likely general election voters in Iowa reveals consistent support for fending off tax hikes, and a political environment that is pointing toward close races up and down the ballot.
The survey, conducted from June 16-19, 2026 , found that support for an amendment to Iowa’s constitution requiring a two-thirds supermajority of the state legislature to approve income tax increases has grown to 73.8%, up from 70.5 % last September. This strong backing extends across political lines; 72% of independent voters and 60% of democrat voters favor this protection.
This poll also provides an early look at Iowa’s major statewide races after the primary elections have concluded and the general election matchups are now set.
This snapshot of Iowa’s current political environment shows highly competitive races across three major statewide contests. In the governor’s race, State Auditor Rob Sand leads Zach Lahn 47.7% to 43.4%. In the U.S. Senate race, Congresswoman Ashley Hinson holds a narrow lead (46.0% to 44.2%) over Josh Turek. Meanwhile, Attorney General Brenna Bird maintains an advantage over Nate Willems, 43.6% to 39.0%.
A statewide generic congressional ballot suggests similarly tight matchups, with voters favoring the Republican candidate (47.5%) over the Democratic candidate (44.1%). Shaping those support numbers, financial matters like inflation and economy (19.2%) and taxes and government spending (15.4%) were identified as the top priorities in deciding Iowans’ vote for Congress.
Support for Iowa’s Education Savings Accounts has remained a net positive issue, with 44.3% of respondents supporting the program and 31.5% opposing it.
“Even as the major statewide races remain highly competitive, Iowans continue to want the taxpayer to be part of every budget decision,” said Chris Ingstad, president of ITR Foundation. “The strong support for placing permanent protection into the constitution demonstrates that voters want to keep tax hikes far away from family budgets.”
Download PDF of analysis deck.
This probabilistic survey was conducted June 16 – 19, 2026, with 600 likely general election voters. It has a margin of error of ±4.00%. Known registered voters were interviewed via live phones and SMS. This survey was weighted to the likely general election voter universe.
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