MAGA Rep. Ashley Hinson has accepted thousands from pork industry groups while simultaneously advocating for legislation to loosen regulations on them, a Daily Beast analysis can reveal.
Campaign finance filings show that the Trump-endorsed Hinson, who is running for Senate in Iowa, has received tens of thousands of dollars from groups tied to the pork industry, including $5,250 from groups associated with Smithfield Foods.
That giving comes as Hinson, 43, has introduced the “Save Our Bacon Act,” specifically targeting California’s Proposition 12, which mandates that all pork sold in the state—even those raised elsewhere—must comply with its own animal confinement regulations.
Smithfield, a pork producer bought by a Chinese company in 2013, controls about a quarter of U.S. pig production. Closer to home, Hinson has received $15,700 in campaign donations from Jeffrey and Debra Hansen, who own Iowa Select Farms, the state’s largest pork producer.
Hinson has also taken over $7,500 from a political action committee associated with Tyson Foods, TYPAC, and $20,000 from the National Pork Producers PAC.
In total, Hinson has received $65,350 over the last five years from pork-related groups.
The Daily Beast approached Hinson’s campaign for comment, but did not receive a response.
Hinson is one of the staunchest advocates of the “Save Our Bacon Act” on Capitol Hill.
She was successful in attaching the legislation to the Farm Bill, a typically bipartisan measure that has seen setbacks in recent years. Congress has not been able to pass a new Farm Bill since 2018, and has extended that legislation three times.
Her push to include the amendment in the larger Farm Bill, rather than holding a separate vote, has become a point of contention on Capitol Hill, drawing bipartisan pushback.
Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, who was an original sponsor of the Senate version of the “Save Our Bacon Act,” has withdrawn his support. MAGA Rep. Anna Paulina Luna has been pushing a bipartisan amendment to strip the Save Our Bacon Act from the Farm Bill.
Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and New Jersey Sen. Corey Booker, a Democrat who sits on the Senate Agriculture Committee, have also voiced their distaste for the legislation.
Other non-elected but influential MAGA figures, including Fox News hosts Tomi Lahren and Laura Ingraham, and the right-wing conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich, have also voiced opposition.
Cernovich called the bill “demonic,” while Lahren called it “inhumane and disgusting.”
Her strong push for pork deregulation comes as the Iowa Senate race has grown increasingly competitive, according to recent polling.
Democrats are eyeing Iowa as a potential pickup seat in the 2026 midterm elections. Hinson is up against Josh Turek, a Democratic state representative, in November.
President Donald Trump says he has given Hinson, a three-term congresswoman, his “Complete and Total Endorsement.”
“I know Ashley well, and she is a WINNER!,” he wrote on Truth Social. “A Loving Wife and Proud Mother of two sons, Ashley is a wonderful person, has ALWAYS delivered for Iowa, and will continue doing so in the United States Senate.”
