DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra confirmed Tuesday he will run for governor after months of exploratory campaigning to rally support and raise money for a high-stakes midterm open election.
Feenstra released a video promoting his vote. Huge tax and spending cuts bill Passed this year and emphasized his relationship with the president donald trump and criticized him Probably an opponent of the Democratic PartyRob Sand.
Republican Governor Kim Reynolds made a surprising announcement. In April, he announced that he would not run for re-election next year. The two most important statewide elections in Iowa next year are the gubernatorial race and the U.S. Senate race. open seat This is the first time since 1968 that Mr. Reynolds has served two terms in the Senate. Joni Ernst they said they would resign from one’s position At the end of the term. This has led to big swings in the voting landscape in once competitive states, with Democrats eyeing seats they think they can flip.
Republicans currently control the US House of Representatives razor-thin margins. Feenstra’s 4th Congressional District is overwhelmingly Republican, so next year’s race to succeed Feenstra is unlikely to be a competitive one for Democrats. That means Feenstra’s entry into the gubernatorial race will have little impact on Republican efforts to maintain the balance of power in the House.
But the state’s other three congressional districts are more politically complex and are considered some of the tightest and best-funded races in the country. The facility in the northeast corner of Iowa, represented by Representative Ashley Hinson, is currently Hinson jumped into the race Ernst’s Senate seat.
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Even before officially joining on Tuesday, Feenstra announced millions in funding and nearly half a million paid ads. He could face a well-funded competitor to Sund who has experience running statewide campaigns. As state auditor, Mr. Sund is currently the only Democrat elected statewide. Sund, who is running in the primary against longtime Democratic Party consultant Julie Stauch, has reported a whopping $10 million in campaign funds, much of it from relatives.
Iowa Rep. Eddie Andrews, former state Rep. Brad Sherman and former state Administrative Services chief Adam Steen are already running against Feenstra for the Republican nomination. State Sen. Mike Bucelot is also considering a campaign.
After Reynolds unexpectedly declined another term, there was much speculation about who would run for the seat and who would run with President Donald Trump’s support in the first open Republican primary for Iowa governor since Trump took over. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Byrd, a longtime supporter of President Trump, immediately said she was considering a bid, but did not confirm one or the other until July.
Mr. Feenstra used the long silence before the decision as an opportunity to announce in May that he would launch an exploratory campaign that raised nearly $4 million in five weeks and included $400,000 in TV and radio advertising. Mr. Byrd ultimately chose not to run for governor.
Feenstra was re-elected to a third term last year with the support of about two-thirds of voters in the area, which is home to a conservative evangelical community. Iowa’s 4th District is comprised of counties characterized by large fields and hog farms in the northwest quadrant and along the western border. The district could support Mr. Feenstra in the Republican primary. About 30% of Iowa’s Republican registered voters live in Iowa.
The congressman was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2020 after launching a well-funded primary campaign to oust former Republican Rep. Steve King, who lost his seat after years of controversy over the former president. Support for white supremacist groups.
