Feenstra says he plans to appear with other candidates at future GOP events

SIOUX CITY — On Monday night, the Ida County GOP hosted the largest forum of the 2026 primary cycle thus far with four candidates for governor and five candidates for the 4th Congressional District making an appearance in Holstein.

One candidate was missing, however: Republican U.S. House Rep. Randy Feenstra of Hull.

Fellow candidate Adam Steen, the former Iowa Department of Administrative Services director, criticized the absence by asking “Where’s Randy Feenstra?” and saying “We care about showing up, answering questions and talking to the people and making sure what we say resonates with what you need and what you want.”

Feenstra explained the absence during a campaign stop at the Sioux City Pizza Ranch on Tuesday afternoon.

“I’ve been on my state tour. Going to every community from Denison to Council Bluffs. Yesterday in Dubuque to Fort Madison. It’s just been great to talk to people around the state,” he said.

Asked whether he hopes to appear with candidates at future events, Feenstra said “Absolutely. It’s just a matter of when they occur. But I look forward to that.”

During a roundtable discussion at the Tuesday event, Feenstra avoided talking about any of the other primary candidates, but did criticize Iowa Auditor Rob Sand, the Democratic front-runner for the 2026 governor’s race. Feenstra went after comments he says Sand has made about tax cuts and his political beliefs.

“He’s (also) called himself an extreme liberal in the past,” Feenstra said in reference to what his campaign has said is a September 2003 article in Brown University’s Daily Herald. A search through the newspaper’s archives returns 15 results for Sand, but none from September 2003.

“We have to make sure we don’t ever have Rob Sand,” Feenstra said.

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The third-term incumbent congressman and former state senator also had criticism for Delta Dental’s reimbursement rates for Medicaid patients in Iowa.

“We have to look at what’s happening. Delta Dental is selling a bill of goods,” Feenstra said. “We’ve got to change the rules to how this plays out and it’s got be fair ... The payout has to be what the cost is to do it.” Dentists have said reimbursement rates have stayed at similar levels for years and Medicaid patients lose them money.

Feenstra, who was a volunteer EMT for 15 years, said the state is hurting when it comes to nurses too.

“We need nurses. We need nurse practitioners,” he said.

Feenstra suggested one way to recruit more nurses is to have students start on the career path earlier, by having career programming available for students in grades 8-10.

“We have no vision at this point,” he said. “We have sort of ad hoc.”

Health care has been one of Feenstra’s four main campaign planks since he announced his candidacy late last month.

Feenstra has said he wants to prioritize: ensuring Iowans have access to “high quality, affordable, accessible health care,” making Iowa the most ag friendly state in the country, giving students access to “world class education from preschool to college,” and curbing the state’s sizable “brain drain” issue and ensuring that Iowans “have access to high quality, affordable, accessible health care.”