Nation States: Why China Became an Election-Year Kitchen Table Issue

Steve Yates (0:02)

Welcome in. A super PAC in Texas dressed a Senate candidate up like Chairman Mao and called the ad Chinese Toy. In Iowa, a fight over pork rules turned into a fight over who owns Smithfield. And in Ohio, the president of the United States made the whole case for America's AI future in four words, they'll go to China. Tonight, while Americans are still in line and votes are being counted, China is on the ballot, not by name, but in land, in crops, in factory jobs, and in the fentanyl that has killed too many of our neighbors. Here's what I want you to know tonight. The ads come down tomorrow, Beijing's ledger doesn't. And whoever wins the House and the Senate is about to inherit the China file. Welcome back to Nation States with Yates. I'm Steve Yates. If you're hearing this on Tuesday night, polls are closing across the east, people are still voting out west, and the anchors are filling airtime until the numbers come in. I recorded this before a single vote was counted, so I'm not going to tell you who won.

I don't know that yet, and neither does anyone else. What I can tell you is what doesn't depend on tonight's results.

This week, I wrote a piece for The Daily Signal called How China Landed in the Midterms and What Congress Does Next. The link will be in the show notes, and the episode is longer conversation behind that commentary piece. We'll do it in four parts. First, how China actually showed up in the campaign, Texas, Iowa, and Ohio. Second, why voters feel China is in their wallets and not in summit communiques and what the administration strategy really is.

Third, a committee most Americans have never heard of may matter more than any single bill. The House Select Committee on Chinese Communist Party and the fact that it expires in January, it's been renewed before, but unless the next house brings it back, it may expire.

And fourth, the China file itself, trade, chips, Taiwan, and influence at home, and how each one moves depending on which party holds Congress. No predictions, no spin about who's ahead, just the facts, the record, and what it means from Main Street. So let's start with Texas. After this break, stick with us for our deep dive.

Welcome back to Nation States with Yates. We're in Texas now. How did China show up in the campaign? Texas has one of the most expensive Senate races, the country, this year. Republican Ken Paxton, the state's Attorney General, against Democrat James Talarico, a state representative. At the end of the summer, a super PAC backing Paxton, Lone Star Liability PAC, announced a $15 million ad campaign across 18 Texas markets. One of the two ads in that buy was called Chinese Toy. It put Talarico in clothes that looked like mouse, and the tagline was, China's got Talarico, Texas needs Ken Paxton. The substance behind the ad is a vote. In 2025, Texas passed a law restricting purchases of Texas land by people and companies tied to China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. Governor Abbott signed it. Talarico voted against it. Also note, you're a humble host. It was an advocate for this kind of legislation in several states, including Texas, in recent years.

Talarico didn't just take the hit.

His campaign answered with ads about Paxton's own China ties, supposedly. A trip Paxton took to China years ago, and roughly $40,000 in donations reported by the Houston Chronicle from people tied to a Houston developer that markets Texas homes to investors in China. So you had both candidates in the biggest state, in the lower 48, accusing each other of being soft on Beijing. Which one did you get more persuaded by? Now, let's go north to Iowa. Senator Joni Ernst is retiring, and so the seat is open. Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson against Democratic state representative Josh Turek.

There China came in through the farm gate. Soybeans, which have been China's leverage over American farmers for years. Tariffs, which Turek says have shrunk Iowa's markets, and Hinson defending as price levels playing, as a leveling playing field. The foreign purchases of farmland, especially near military sites, Hinson has made blocking foreign adversaries from buying that farmland a central issue. Turek agrees with restrictions.

The restrictions matter, but says giant corporations are the bigger threat to family farms. Which side do you come down on? But then there's the pork fight. Hinson has a bill called Save Our Bacon Act. Great name, which would stop states like California from dictating how Iowa farmers raise hogs. California's Prop 12 is the target. Her opponents called it pro-China because one of the biggest beneficiaries would be Smithfield Foods. And Smithfield has been owned since 2013 by WH Group, a Hong Kong-based company. Hinson calls that China propaganda and says the bill is about family farms and those families can't afford California's compliance costs.