Sen. Chuck Grassley told Iowa Republicans he does not want a Democratic governor appointing his Senate successor if he dies in office, a blunt line from the chamber’s oldest member.
The 93-year-old Iowa Republican made the point at the GOP’s annual Reagan Dinner in West Des Moines, saying he is watching the fall governor’s race with that succession risk in mind. ABC News reported the remarks from video of the speech.
Grassley chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee and is serving his eighth term, which runs through Jan. 3, 2029. He has not said whether he will run again in 2028. He stressed he does not plan to die in office. He also made plain he does not want a Democrat in the governor’s chair choosing who fills his seat.
Under Iowa’s process as described in the coverage, if Grassley died in the next two years, the next governor, elected this fall, would make a temporary appointment until the 2028 election. That is the window he flagged for the room of Republicans.
He framed the worry in personal terms and tied it straight to the ballot.
Before the key line, he told the crowd he knows time is limited at his age.
Grassley said:
"At 93 years of age, I don't know how many more groups of Republicans like this I’m going to have a chance to talk to,"
He continued:
"But I want to take advantage of it. But one of the reasons I'm worried about who's going to be elected governor -- I don’t plan on dying in office -- but if I did, I don’t want a Democrat governor choosing my successor."
He boiled it down again:
"I don't want a Democrat governor choosing my successor,"
That is not abstract Senate math. It is a senior Republican telling his own party the governor’s race can decide who holds an Iowa Senate seat if the unexpected happens.
Readers who follow Grassley’s long public life have seen the personal side of that longevity before, including when he said goodbye to “Beth,” the family vacuum that lasted nearly 50 years.
The next Iowa governor will be chosen this fall. Democrat Rob Sand, the state auditor, faces Republican Zach Lahn.
A late June Fox News poll found Sand ahead of Lahn by 9 points among registered voters. A New York Times/Siena poll from around the same period found the candidates essentially neck-and-neck among likely voters. Grassley’s speech treated that contest as more than a statehouse fight.
If a Democrat wins and Grassley’s seat opens before 2028, a Democratic governor would name the temporary replacement. Republicans would then have to win the seat back at the ballot box. That is the leverage Grassley put on the table.
Aging leadership already shapes how both parties talk about the chamber, and McConnell’s expected Senate return has revived term-limits arguments for the same reason: long careers still decide control.
Grassley marked his 93rd birthday on Sept. 17. Days later, on Sept. 23, 2026, he presided over a Senate hearing on men in women’s sports at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington.
He remains the oldest sitting U.S. senator. He is still running committee business. And he still has not announced a 2028 decision.
Empty or uncertain seats have real costs in a closely divided Senate, a point driven home when McConnell left rehab after nearly two months and his absence weighed on Republican numbers.
Primary voters sometimes force the issue on long-serving members. Democratic primary voters have ousted aging incumbents at a pace Republicans have not matched, while GOP veterans often stay until they choose the exit.
Grassley’s Reagan Dinner message skipped the soft language. He wants Republicans to hold the governor’s office so a Democrat never gets a free hand at his seat.
Voters who care about Senate control should treat the Iowa governor’s race the same way he does, as a succession fight, not a side show.