Feenstra launches campaign for Iowa governor, pledging to ‘take Iowa to new heights’

Republican Iowa U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra of Hull on Tuesday formally launched his campaign for governor, framing himself as a “workhorse” conservative who will bring his small-town values and alliance with President Donald Trump to the state’s top office.

“I’m excited to officially launch our campaign to take Iowa to new heights,” Feenstra said in a statement. “In Congress, I worked with President Trump to deliver the largest tax cut in U.S. history, keep men out of women’s sports and bathrooms, and stop China from buying Iowa farmland, and as governor, I will work with President Trump to advance the America First agenda in Iowa.”

Feenstra, 56, represents Iowa’s 4th Congressional District, covering the state’s conservative western counties.

A fourth-generation Iowan, Feenstra grew up in Hull, where he met his wife, Lynette, while working at a local Pizza Ranch. The couple has been married 32 years and raised four children in their hometown. His campaign biography emphasizes a work ethic shaped by early mornings on a paper route and at a local bakery, and a career that included teaching business at his alma mater, Dordt University, and overseeing insurance operations for Iowa State Bank branches in northwest Iowa.

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Before his election to Congress in 2020, Feenstra served as Hull city administrator, Sioux County treasurer, and chaired the Iowa Senate Ways and Means Committee, where he authored what was then the largest tax cut in state history. He now serves as the only Iowan on both the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee and the Agriculture Committee.

Gov. Kim Reynolds’ announcement in April that she will not seek re-election opened up Iowa’s gubernatorial race. It’s the first time an incumbent will not appear on the ballot in the race for Iowa governor since 2006.

In the months since Reynolds’ announcement, half a dozen people have announced plans to run for office.

On the Republican side, state Rep. Eddie Andrews of Johnston, Williamsburg pastor Brad Sherman and former Iowa Department of Administrative Services director Adam Steen are running for the office. State Sen. Mike Bousselot of Ankeny is currently running an exploratory campaign.

On the Democratic side, State Auditor Rob Sand and political consultant Julie Stauch are currently running for governor. Sand, the only statewide elected Democrat in Iowa, is widely considered the favorite to earn the party’s nomination. Paul Dahl, a Webster City man who previously ran unsuccessfully for governor and Congress, announced his candidacy for governor in November 2024, but does not appear to be actively campaigning.

In his launch video, Feenstra leans heavily on rural imagery and contrasts his conservative record with what he calls the “radical liberal” agenda of Sand, widely seen as a likely opponent in the 2026 governor’s race.

Over images of cornfields and small-town life, a narrator declares, “In Iowa, the crops grow tall and strong. Randy Feenstra is no different.” The ad highlights Feenstra’s record of authoring “the largest tax cut in Iowa history,” partnering with President Donald Trump on national tax policy, opposing transgender participation in girls’ sports and supporting restrictions on foreign farmland ownership.

The video takes aim at Sand, portraying him as a career politician motivated by ambition rather than service. The narrator claims Sand “will say anything to climb the political ladder” and calls him “a liberal liar” who “pretends to be one of us.”

The sharp, attack-heavy tone signals Feenstra’s strategy to define Sand early as his likely Democratic rival, while positioning himself as the candidate aligned with Trump and Iowa’s conservative base.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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