The husband of a GOP candidate running for a Senate seat is being scrutinized for setting up meetings with lobbyists representing an industry that puts money in his pocket.
According to a report by NOTUS, eyebrows are being raised after an insurance industry executive admitted in a trade magazine that the husband of Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) has been a reliable conduit to accessing lawmakers.
While Hinson has built her U.S. Senate campaign around "fighting special interests," her husband's ties to the insurance industry are raising questions about access.
According to the report, Hinson's husband, Matt Arenholz, owns millions of dollars worth of interest in "a private equity-backed insurance brokerage" and held a government affairs post at a major insurance industry lobbying group — a role not previously reported.
Arenholz chaired the government affairs committee for the Iowa branch of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America and helped arrange meetings between the group and Hinson along with other members of Iowa's congressional delegation, documents reviewed by NOTUS show.
The group's magazine credited Arenholz directly.
"In fact, Matt was able to arrange a meeting with all four of our congressional members in one large conference room," CEO Tom O'Meara wrote, adding it "prevented us from having to bounce around from building to building in D.C."
In another edition, O'Meara recalled bragging that his group met with all six of Iowa's congressional delegation members during a Washington trip. "I was given several strange looks when I responded that we met with all six of ours from Iowa," he wrote. "Several replied to me that they were not talking about congressional staff members rather the actual elected officials themselves. My answer remained the same, ALL SIX!"
Jeff Hauser, executive director of the watchdog Revolving Door Project, told NOTUS the arrangement "blurs the line."
"No one's saying that if your significant other gets elected to Congress, you have got to stop being in insurance," Hauser said. "Then you tell me he's involved in government affairs, right off the bat that's not normal. Most people don't do government affairs work."
