India, Nov. 3 -- Zach Lahn has entered Iowa politics as a political outsider, but his campaign is closely linked to the state's farming and rural communities. A businessman, farmer and former education entrepreneur, Lahn is the Republican nominee for governor in 2026. He is campaigning on what he calls an "Iowa First" agenda, which places the state's interests at the centre of his campaign.

Lahn grew up in western Iowa and describes himself as a sixth-generation Iowan. His father, Jim Lahn, studied agronomy, worked as a conservationist, and later served in pastoral ministry. The Lahn family's farming history in Iowa goes back generations, although the family farm was sold in 2005 before Lahn eventually bought the property back.

After gr...