Iowa representative who paints herself as 'working-class mom' spent $50,000 of taxpayers' money on luxury apartment and was gifted $100,000 in overseas vacations… all while sitting on a HUGE net worth

An Iowa representative gunning for the Senate paints herself as a working-class mom who understands the struggle at the gas pump, all while sitting on an estimated net worth of up to $8million, living in a luxury DC apartment, and having taken several international trips while in office. 

Ashley Hinson, 43, who is currently serving Iowa's second district in the House, is running for a Senate seat to fight for working-class families. 

'I know prices are too high,' Hinson said in an interview with Fox News this week. 'I'm also a working mom, I have two teenage boys who are out of school for the summer, so I understand what it's like to have your whole fridge go empty after only two days of filling it again. 

'I fill my gas tank in my minivan too. I understand how those pressures can pinch the family's budget.' 

All the while, Hinson has a net worth between $1million and $8million, she reported on her 2024 financial disclosure form, which was filed in August 2025, and viewed by the Daily Mail. 

Additionally, Hinson makes a congressional salary of $174,000 a year, which is nearly three times larger than the average Iowan's salary of roughly $63,000. Hinson's considerable wealth raises questions over whether she's really struggling to fill her fridge as she claims. 

She also rents a one-bedroom Washington DC apartment, which was on the market for $2,254 a month in January 2023, according to Realtor.com. It is unclear what she pays for it now. 

The Beckert's Park complex markets itself as 'upscale Capitol Hill Living,' where 'luxury isn’t a vibe – it’s the whole lifestyle.'

'I'm also a working mom, I have two teenage boys who are out of school for the summer, so I understand what it's like to have your whole fridge go empty after only two days of filling it again,' Hinson said this week. The family woman often posts her family on her official pages

The building hosts a slew of amenities, including a large sports court, a game room, and a luxury pool that comes with an outdoor dining area. It also has a dog wash and park, a coworking space, a garage, and a Safeway on the ground floor. 

Apartments come with quartz countertops, movable islands, customizable closets, as well as, terraces and in-unit laundry. 

Hinson has claimed more than a total of $50,000 of her office's funds for personal lodging since 2023, House forms, viewed by the Daily Mail, showed. 

Congress does not require representatives to submit receipts for certain expenses, rather working on an honor system as part of the representational allowance. Lodging is included in this program, as it is supposed to help congressmen and women afford a home and DC offices. 

In 2023 alone, Hinson reimbursed herself $20,025 in lodging, The Washington Post found.

In the same year, other representatives, like AOC, claimed back $19,417, former representatives Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene claimed $30,754 and $25,670, respectively, and Ilhan Omar claimed $29,875. Jack Bergman, of Michigan, claimed the most with $32,198.

The only other Iowa representative who claimed lodging expenses that year was Mariannette Miller-Meeks, with a $16,468 bill for her digs, The Post reported. 

In 2024, Hinson claimed approximately $14,500 in reimbursements on housing in 2024 and $17,000 in 2025, House Disclosures revealed. 

In total, more than 300 representatives got back $5.8milion in 2023 due to the receipt-less program, on top of their already hefty salaries, The Post reported. 

However, Hinson has a reported net worth from $1million to $8million and has spent more than $50,000 on an Beckert's Park apartment in DC with her office funds since 2023. The luxury building has a pool, sports court, dog park, and more for residents 

While in the House, Hinson also took at least five international trips – many with her husband Matthew Arenholz as her plus one – that were paid for by special interest groups. 

The five trips, which took place between 2022 and 2025, cost in total $110,622, according to House Disclosure records. The dates traveled and interest groups were verified by the Daily Mail through House Disclosures records. 

The Republican traveled to Tel Aviv, Israel, in February 2022; Warsaw and Rzeszow, Poland, Kyiv and Odesa, Ukraine and Chisinau, Moldova, on the same trip in April 2024; Vienna, Austria in November 2024; Seoul, South Korea, in April 2025; and Geneva, Switzerland, in August 2025. 

Hinson's husband accompanied his wife on all trips except the Poland one. 

The couple's trip to Israel was funded by the American Israel Education Foundation (AIEF), which is associated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). 

Since the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, AIEF has spent millions of dollars sending Republican and Democratic lawmakers to the Jewish State to discuss Middle Eastern politics and Israeli policies. 

Since the October tragedy, at least 26 Democrats and 52 Republicans have attended at least 15 trips sponsored by the AIEF, The Guardian reported. 

Hinson and Arenholz attended the trip with more than 35 other representatives, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, according to travel disclosure forms filed with the House's Committee on Ethics.

Hinson (right, in blue) has also taken at least five international trips while in office, which cost special interest groups more than $110,000 

While traveling to Israel, she sat through discussions with Prime Minister Ben Netanyahu (left). While visiting Ukraine, she met Volodymyr Zelensky (right) and visited war-torn areas 

She and her husband visited Tel Aviv, Israel 

They also went to Geneva, Switzerland, where she attended a trade conference

The couple also went to Seoul, South Korea

While there, they visited the Garden of Gethsemane, which is known in Christianity as the place where Jesus was betrayed by Judas in the Bible and what became a site of pilgrimage for Christians. 

They also visited the borders of the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and Syria, to 'understand the threats faced by Israel.' 

Participants also met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the editor of The Jerusalem Post in separate meetings, among other activities, disclosure papers showed. 

The trip cost AIEF more than $27,000 to send the couple.  

During her trip to Poland, Ukraine, and Moldova – which she visited without her husband – she attended several meetings with foreign officials, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. 

Hinson saw several sites destroyed by the Russians in Ukraine, as well as, historical sites in Poland and Moldova. 

The trip was funded by the Howard G Buffett Foundation, which focuses on quality of life issues, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a non-partisan organization that focuses on fixing the world's challenges. 

The Buffett Foundation is associated with the Ukraine Foundation. 

The Trump-backed candidate has promised to continue the president's America First campaign in the Senate, if she wins

The organizations spent $10,626 to send Hinson. 

The Former Members of Congress, a bipartisan alliance made up for former congressmen, spent nearly $27,500 on Hinson and Arenholz to visit Seoul, South Korea, where they went to the demilitarized zone and discussed Korea's military alliance, energy policy, trade agreements, and social issues, documents said. 

Hinson and Arenholz went to Geneva, Switzerland, for the representative to attend a trade conference put on the by Ripon Society and the Franklin Center for Global Policy Exchange. 

Participants also discusses the growing refugee problem, global migration, climate policy, and US tax policy's effect on the international market, while staying at the five-star Intercontinental Hotel. 

The Ripon Society is a moderate Republican organization based in Washington DC, and is known for publishing The Ripon Forum, a journal about American policies that has been published since 1965. 

It also paid for Hinson's Austria trip, which cost nearly $20,000 for Hinson and her husband.  

The Franklin Center is a nonpartisan nonprofit that 'brings together members of the US Congress and their international parliamentary counterparts,' its website reads. 

The Ripon Society and Franklin Center spent $26,000 on the couple for the Switzerland trip, documents showed. 

The family woman often posts photos of her children to maintain her family image, but has not posted any photos of her paid-for travels overseas 

'Multimillionaire Ashley Hinson can cosplay as working class all she wants, but this report makes clear that she is a self-interested politician who is wasting taxpayer dollars to live in a luxury DV apartment and leeching off special interests to take lavish trips abroad,' Iowa Democrats spokesperson Drew Myers told the Daily Mail. 

'Hinson is living lux while hiking costs and killing jobs back in Iowa, and that’s exactly why Iowans will reject her in November.' 

Hinson decided not to run for reelection in the House, and instead launched a campaign for Senate after Senator Joni Ernst announced she would not be running for office again in September. 

Hinson announced her campaign only a mere four hours after Ernst said she wouldn't. The mother-of-two had originally planned to campaign for her House seat.  

In June, Hinson won the June primary, defeating Jim Carlin, a former state senator. 

Hinson is endorsed by President Donald Trump in a race for a Senate seat that is expected to be wildly competitive in November. 

'I’ve stood shoulder to shoulder with President Trump to reverse the woke craziness and put working families first,' she said when she announced her campaign. 

'In the Senate, I’ll be President Trump’s strongest ally and deliver the America First agenda.' 

The Republican faces Josh Turek, a Paralympic gold medalist and current state representative, in November for the seat

Democrats have turned their focus to the Midwestern state, hoping to turn it blue. The Republican faces Democrat, Josh Turek, a Paralympic gold medalist and current state representative, in November for the seat.

Hinson has described the competitive race as being 'between common sense and crazy.' 

She has largely campaigned on the backs of affordability and being side-by-side with her fellow Iowans on feeling the pinch, despite her enormous net worth. 

'I am at the heart of everything,' she told Local 5 News in May. '[I am a] working mom, and whether it is refueling the minivan or restocking my fridge for our teenage boys, I know what is facing our families here in Iowa.

'I'm in that boat just like everybody else and trying to make ends meet.' 

At a campaign rally in May, she said: 'I'm getting the text from my kids on the way on the plane out to DC: "Mom, can you put some more money in my lunch account?" Or, "hey, can you do something about the lack of groceries in the house?"

'That's an everyday problem in our house right now.' 

Hinson currently lives in a six-bed, four-bath house in Marion with her family. It is worth $685,000, according to Zillow estimates. 

The Daily Mail has reached out to Hinson for comment.