Rep. Randy Feenstra’s apparent loss to farmer Zach Lahn is a blow to Trump’s dominance in Republican nominating contests.
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President Donald Trump’s pick for Iowa governor, Rep. Randy Feenstra, conceded to businessman Zach Lahn in Tuesday’s GOP primary, in a blow to Trump’s dominance in Republican nominating contests.
Trump backed Feenstra on Friday, calling him “MAGA all the way.” The congressman is better known than his rivals. But Lahn, a farmer, had already drawn the support of some conservative activists critical of Feenstra and surged in polling toward the end of the race.
Feenstra conceded late Tuesday. “We’ve got a new chapter, and I’m so looking forward to that new chapter in life,” he said.
The Associated Press had not projected a winner as of 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, but Lahn narrowly led Feenstra by less than a percentage point with more than 98 percent of the vote counted. Other candidates trailed far behind. Lahn had close to 38 percent, enough to avoid a statewide convention.
Iowa leans red and backed Trump by 13 percentage points in 2024, but Democrats think they can make the race unusually competitive this year with a strong candidate and a backlash to Trump’s second term. The Republican nominee for governor will face Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.
A person close to Trump’s political operation said the late gubernatorial endorsement was a “Hail Mary” effort that Trump granted after members of Congress “pressed him” to back Feenstra in the race.
“It appears he was more substantially behind than the polls were showing,” said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. “Everyone close to this was just kind of wrong.”
The person noted that Feenstra was “barely winning his own district in a primary.”
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Trump has repeatedly flexed his command over the GOP in primaries. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), who frequently clashed with the White House, lost his primary last month after Trump recruited an opponent. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) fell to a Trump-backed challenger days earlier after voting to convict Trump in his 2021 impeachment trial, and several GOP state lawmakers in Indiana recently lost their primaries after resisting Trump’s push to redraw the state’s congressional map.
Trump was not as involved in the Iowa governor’s race as he was in recent efforts to oust his critics. Early voting had been underway for weeks when the president endorsed Feenstra.
As Lahn showed a late surge in polling, Turning Point Action, the influential conservative grassroots group started by the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, endorsed him Friday — just before Trump put his weight behind Feenstra.
Feenstra was widely seen by Iowa conservatives as the more establishment pick in the race.
Republicans view Sand, the Democrat, as an unusually tough competitor, and some have grown nervous about the race.
The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan elections analyst, shifted its rating this spring for the Iowa governor’s race to a “toss-up,” citing a political environment favorable to Democrats and potential challenges turning out the GOP base.
Other GOP candidates for Iowa governor included state lawmaker Eddie Andrews, former state lawmaker Brad Sherman and former state administrator Adam Steen.
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