U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley dodged a journalist’s question this week about his plans for the 2028 campaign.

During the latest edition of Grassley’s “Capitol Hill Report,” released on August 20, Marion County Express publisher Steve Woodhouse asked whether the senator planned to seek re-election again. Grassley replied, “This is the summer of my third year. So you need to ask that question in about two years.”

Grassley will turn 92 years old next month and would be 95 when his current term ends. I doubt he will seek another six-year term in 2028; his campaign’s fundraising totals (less than $100,000 per quarter since 2022) are much lower than what one would expect from a senator planning another re-election bid. But it’s notable that he is not ready to rule out the prospect.

A guaranteed open Senate seat for 2028 could set off a scramble among Iowa Republicans. The party is already poised to have at least two high-profile open 2026 primaries, in the governor’s race and the fourth Congressional district.

Two more GOP primaries with no incumbent could be coming if Senator Joni Ernst opts not to seek re-election in 2026, as many Iowa politics watchers now anticipate. U.S. Representative Ashley Hinson is virtually certain to run for Senate if Ernst bows out, which would open up the second Congressional district (a potentially competitive seat) to a new Republican candidate.

If a Republican wins the 2026 governor’s race, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Grassley step down in late 2027 or early 2028 to allow the governor to name his successor. That scenario would give the GOP establishment’s preferred candidate a leg up in the 2028 Senate primary. If a Democrat wins the next governor’s race, though, Grassley will surely attempt to serve out his eighth term.

Grassley is already the longest-serving member of Congress in Iowa history and the sixth longest-serving U.S. senator of all time. Before being elected to the Senate in 1980, he served for sixteen years in the Iowa House and six years in the U.S. House.

If Grassley completes his current term, he will tie former Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont as the country’s third longest-serving senator of all time. To break the record set by former Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Iowa’s senior senator would need to serve an additional three and a half years after winning a ninth term in 2028.

P.S.—Grassley’s office boasted on August 20 that the senator “has held 189 press calls” so far in 2025, adding, “This is another way Grassley holds himself accountable to the people.” However, the senator’s staff hand-pick the news outlets invited to all of these press calls. I have never been allowed to participate, despite being a member of the Iowa Capitol Press Association and several other journalists’ organizations.

Most of Grassley’s interviews with Iowa newspaper, radio, or television reporters are not available to the public. Only the “Capitol Hill Report” audio files are posted on the senator’s official website and linked in his weekly email newsletter. Grassley’s office calls those reports “unrehearsed interviews” and “public affairs programs.” His staff select a rotating cast of journalists, typically representing small Iowa newspapers and radio stations, to ask the questions.

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Top photo: Senator Chuck Grassley speaking at the National Whistleblower Day celebration on July 30, 2025. First published on his official Facebook page.