Tim Unboxes a Republican Candidate’s “Medical Device”

The Bulwark

Note (August 27, 2026, 3:30 p.m. EDT): FirmTech has requested that we mention that “FirmTech is a health-technology company developing smart wearables that provide objective, personal, and actionable data concerning sexual function, vascular wellness, and broader health,” and that FirmTech’s “patented technology is designed to objectively measure and monitor erectile function.”

Zach Lahn is the Republican candidate for governor of Iowa with a very unusual résumé and some very unconventional positions. Tim Miller and Brendan Hartnett dig into Lahn’s ties to Kansas and the Koch network, his investment in FirmTech and its award-winning “sex tech” device that Lahn insists is not a sex toy, and questions about whether he’s really an Iowan. They also examine Lahn’s opposition to mRNA vaccines, support for a total abortion ban, MAHA politics, his defense of Trump’s tariffs, and the other positions putting him on the far edge of the Republican field.

Read Brendan's article: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/zach-lahn-please-stop-calling-the-award-winning-sex-toy-a-sex-toy-firmtech-iowa-governor-campaign

Watch Tim’s take on Mike Collins: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/republicans-found-a-way-to-blow-georgia

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Note (August 27, 2026, 3:30 p.m. EDT): FirmTech has requested that we mention that “FirmTech is a health-technology company developing smart wearables that provide objective, personal, and actionable data concerning sexual function, vascular wellness, and broader health,” and that FirmTech’s “patented technology is designed to objectively measure and monitor erectile function.”

Zach Lahn is the Republican candidate for governor of Iowa with a very unusual résumé and some very unconventional positions. Tim Miller and Brendan Hartnett dig into Lahn’s ties to Kansas and the Koch network, his investment in FirmTech and its award-winning “sex tech” device that Lahn insists is not a sex toy, and questions about whether he’s really an Iowan. They also examine Lahn’s opposition to mRNA vaccines, support for a total abortion ban, MAHA politics, his defense of Trump’s tariffs, and the other positions putting him on the far edge of the Republican field.

Read Brendan's article: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/zach-lahn-please-stop-calling-the-award-winning-sex-toy-a-sex-toy-firmtech-iowa-governor-campaign

Watch Tim’s take on Mike Collins: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/republicans-found-a-way-to-blow-georgia

2026-08-20 13 min
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