Iowa GOP governor hopeful touts school choice, property tax relief in Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS — Iowa Republican gubernatorial candidate Adam Steen told Linn County Republicans on Thursday that he would push changes on education, property taxes and eminent domain if elected governor, framing his campaign as a fight to “preserve and protect the culture of the state” and “a battle of good versus evil.”

Speaking during a Linn County GOP meeting at Christian Life Church in southwest Cedar Rapids, Steen said he will “champion school choice” and “will not roll back school choice,” directly contrasting himself with State Auditor Rob Sand, seen as the Democratic front-runner in the open race for governor.

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Sand has not explicitly said he supports repealing Iowa’s Education Savings Account program outright but wants to refocus state education policy on public schools and impose tighter oversight on school vouchers. He has argued that private schools receiving public ESA dollars should be required to accept all students rather than selectively enrolling, and that the program should include income limits so benefits are targeted to families who could not otherwise afford private school tuition. Sand has said the current structure disproportionately benefits higher-income families already sending their children to private schools and has warned that voucher dollars paid as tuition to private schools currently face too little scrutiny.

While strongly backing school choice, Steen emphasized that he is “not anti-public school,” noting that both of his sons attend public schools and that his family “love our teachers.”

His criticism, he said, is aimed at what he called a “globalized ideology” and “gender ideology crap” in public education. That ideology, he argued, should be “cut out” so teachers can focus on students rather than navigating cultural disputes or rigid mandates.

He also said Iowa should do more to ban abortions. Currently, the state bans the procedure — with limited exceptions — after cardiac activity is detectable in an embryo, which can occur as early as six weeks of pregnancy.

“I'm an advocate for life at conception. The six-week heartbeat bill is amazing, but we got to push that farther,” Steen said.

He is one of five Republicans running for the 2026 GOP nomination. The others are western Iowa Congressman Randy Feenstra of Hull, state legislator Eddie Andrews of Johnston, business owner Zach Lahn of Belle Plaine, and pastor and former state legislator Brad Sherman of Williamsburg.

Iowa will elect a new governor this fall after Gov. Kim Reynolds, who has held the post since 2017, announced she will not seek another four-year term.

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Role of public education

During a question-and-answer session, Steen was asked what he believes the role of public education should be in Iowa.

He said public schools should prepare students for a range of paths, and should teach to each child’s individual gifts rather than standardized benchmarks.

“I don’t believe that public education should force kids into a four-year university,” Steen said. “I believe public education should be used to teach towards the gifts and talents of their children.”

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Steen cited his 10-year-old son, who has special needs, as an example. He said his son reads with complete accuracy but at a slower pace and is penalized by reading-speed standards, while his younger son excels under the same metrics.

“We have a standardization, a globalized issue in public education right now that needs to be removed so that teachers can teach kids towards their gifts and talents,” he said.

He also criticized what he described as curriculum content that promotes gender ideology, citing his family’s opposition to a book titled “Jacob’s New Dress” being read in one of his son’s classroom, and argued that public schools should emphasize local, state and American history to help students understand their identity and community.

Steen also said the state needs to “double down” on the teaching of skilled trades.

“We need vocational studies, industrial arts back in our schools (in) seventh, eighth, ninth grade, so kids get off screens, get their hands dirty, start to critically think, start to break things, start to fix things, and learn how to be who they were called to be,” he said.

Property taxes and spending

On property taxes, Steen said Iowa has “a spending problem,” not a revenue problem, and called for a dramatic shift in how local governments build their budgets.

He proposed requiring school districts, cities and counties to use zero-based budgeting — forcing them to justify every dollar of spending rather than building on prior budgets.

“First and foremost, I’m going to be advocating for zero-based budgeting in communities, so that we understand from a school board perspective, from a city perspective and a county perspective, where our tax dollars are being spent,” Steen said.

He argued transparency at those levels would expose waste, ensure essential services are fully funded and allow lawmakers to cut nonessential spending instead of raising or maintaining high property taxes.

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“I think what you’ll see are essential services being funded fully, and you’ll see other areas that shouldn’t be funded that need to be cut,” he told The Gazette.

Asked about the state budget, Steen said he does not believe Iowa faces a structural deficit, noting that lawmakers anticipated revenue declines following income tax cuts and planned for them using reserves. Still, he said his administration would continually seek efficiencies and savings.

“Absolutely, we always need to be looking for more efficiencies,” he said. “That’s just a function of what should be good government.”

Iowa is currently spending more from its general fund — to the tune of about $1.2 billion — than it is taking in, a gap driven largely by recent income tax cuts. Lawmakers are again expected to face a similar imbalance in the upcoming budget year.

While surplus accounts remain well-funded — including a projected $546 million general fund surplus and $2.9 billion in the Taxpayer Relief Fund — those balances have declined in recent years.

Eminent domain and carbon pipelines

Steen also addressed eminent domain and carbon sequestration pipelines, a major point of contention at the Statehouse.

He said he is “not against carbon sequestration” itself, but is firmly opposed to using eminent domain to build carbon pipelines.

“I don’t believe carbon sequestration is a public good, public use, like oil, natural gas or transmission lines,” Steen said. Instead, he argued companies should privately negotiate easements and contracts with landowners.

He said lawmakers should resolve the issue during the current legislative session.

“This shouldn't be a talking point on the campaign trail after this session. It needs to get solved,” he said.

IPERS and government efficiency

On recommendations from the Governor’s DOGE Task Force, Steen said his administration “will not touch IPERS,” calling the public pension system an essential “leg of the stool” for state employee compensation, recruitment and retention.

At the same time, he said the broader strategy of continually searching for efficiencies in state government would remain central to his approach.

Steen, a former director of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services under Reynolds, pointed to his role in consolidating state agencies and overseeing efficiency projects as evidence he could “operate Day One” as governor.

He framed his candidacy as an effort to protect families, property rights and what he described as Iowa’s conservative culture, telling the crowd he entered the race “to protect my family” and “to protect your families.”

“I fight for my kids. I fight for my wife every single day,” Steen said. “And you have my commitment that I will fight for your families the same way that I fight for mine.”

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