Rep. Randy Feenstra conceded Tuesday night in Iowa's Republican primary for governor, marking the first time a Trump-backed candidate has lost a presidential endorsement race during this election cycle. With 98% of votes counted, businessman Zach Lahn claimed 37.8% to Feenstra's 37%, handing the congressman a defeat despite receiving Trump's late support.
The result stunned Republican insiders who had expected the presidential endorsement to seal the race. A Trump world strategist texted that Feenstra had a fundamental problem: "Clearly a Randy problem. Barely won his own district. But, it is what it is. So we go with Lahn. That's fine. He did well."
Lahn positioned himself as the anti-establishment choice by aligning with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s "Make America Healthy Again" movement. An outside group supporting him hammered Feenstra over immigration, while Lahn benefited from an unexpected political advantage: the backing of former Rep. Steve King, who lost to Feenstra in a bitter House primary four years earlier. When the race was called, Lahn led Feenstra in 16 of the 19 counties King had won in 2020.
Feenstra had banked his campaign strategy on Trump's endorsement, featuring it prominently in his final ads after securing it last week. He also attacked Lahn for investing in a company that sells sex toys, attempting to shift the narrative away from his own vulnerabilities. But the late endorsement failed to move enough voters his way.
Adam Steen, a former state government official, finished in a distant third place with roughly 15% of the vote.
Now Lahn faces Democrat Rob Sand in November, the state auditor who ran unopposed in his primary and has spent weeks building name recognition across Iowa with a message that challenges both parties. Sand positioned himself as a governor "for all of Iowa," targeting voters tired of partisan gridlock. Even some Republicans acknowledge his strength as a candidate. Will Rogers, a former GOP chairman for Polk County, said the race shapes up as "a toss-up, tight race." He called Sand "no dummy" and noted the Democrat has "already been doing a lot of ground-game work here in central Iowa and other parts of the state that had been neglected or outright ignored" by previous Democratic campaigns.
Sand is the sole statewide elected Democrat in Iowa. The last member of his party to win a major statewide race was Barack Obama in 2012, before Trump carried the state in 2016, 2020, and 2024, with his most recent margin reaching 56% to 43%.
The GOP's path to victory has narrowed considerably. Governor Kim Reynolds opted not to seek a third full term, and Republican Sen. Joni Ernst made the same choice. With the governorship, Senate race, and three of four Republican House seats all viewed as competitive, the party is counting on newer candidates to energize voters in a state where Trump remains broadly popular among Republicans but where some are uneasy about his economic policies, including tariffs that have cut into farm income.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "Lahn's win proves even Trump's endorsement stamp can fail when local politics and candidate strength collide, and it leaves Republicans scrambling to defend Iowa when they've lost their most reliable turnout machine."
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