Iowa Republican candidate for governor: No private eminent domain abuse

INDIANOLA — Adam Steen, the Republican former state agency head running to be Iowa’s next governor, is staking out some key policy positions in his nascent campaign.

Steen on Monday planted policy flags on multiple issues being debated within the party, including that he believes eminent domain should not be used for any private infrastructure projects, and that the state should not eliminate local property taxes without a separate tax offset to ensure the delivery of local services such as public safety, emergency response and education.

Steen laid out his positions during a meeting of the Warren County Republicans on Monday evening at First Assembly of God Church in Indianola.

Steen, from Runnells, is the former head of the state’s Department of Administrative Services. He is one of four Republicans campaigning in Iowa’s 2026 gubernatorial election.

The other Republicans running for governor are western Iowa U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, state legislator Eddie Andrews of Johnston, and former state legislator Brad Sherman of Williamsburg. State legislator Mike Bousselot of Ankeny has been campaigning as he considers a run.

The use of eminent domain, especially for proposed carbon capture pipelines, has divided Iowa Republicans in recent years and continues to be a topic about which many Iowa landowners feel strongly.

Steen told Monday night’s gathering that as governor he would “protect your private property from private economic eminent domain abuse.”

Speaking with reporters after the event, Steen declined to say whether he would have signed into law an eminent domain bill that Gov. Kim Reynolds vetoed after this year’s legislative session, saying as DAS administrator, he served to support Reynolds’ agenda. The bill, House File 639, contained multiple provisions that were designed to make it more difficult for state government to seize private land to aid the construction of hazardous liquid pipelines and other energy infrastructure projects.

Steen, however, did tell the local party meeting and reaffirmed to reporters that, as governor, he would sign into law a different bill that had passed the Iowa House but was not taken up in the Iowa Senate. That bill, House File 943, simply would have prohibited the use of eminent domain for hazardous liquid pipelines on agricultural land.

“Because I can govern on Day 1, and because I know the Legislature already has a simple and clean bill drafted that unfortunately didn’t see the light of day, as soon as that bill hits my desk, I will sign that quicker than I jumped into this race,” Steen told the local party meeting, receiving applause as he did.

“Our property must be protected from corporate elites and dispassionate, money-hungry lobbyists,” Steen said. “Pay attention to other candidates who aren’t willing to be that clear.”

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At a Republican gubernatorial candidate forum hosted by Christian conservative group Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition in late July, attended by Andrews, Bousselot and Sherman and held before Steen announced his campaign, Andrews and Sherman expressed their support for banning the use of eminent domain for private companies’ projects, while Bousselot expressed support for legislation he shepherded during the 2025 legislative session.

Bousselot’s legislation would have ended the use of eminent domain on hazardous liquid pipelines — but would not have affected any projects already permitted, would have allowed pipeline companies to enter into voluntary easement agreements outside a pipeline’s originally proposed path, and would apply its regulations to all infrastructure projects that seek eminent domain from the state, not just hazardous liquid pipelines. That proposal was supported by a majority of Iowa Senate Republicans but did not have enough support to pass the Senate.

Steen on Monday night also warned against calls to quickly eliminate Iowa’s local individual property taxes.

Statehouse Republicans have been working for multiple years on legislation that would limit the growth of local property taxes, which are the largest funding sources for local governments’ public safety, emergency response and public education. Andrews and Bousselot have said they are working on plans to eliminate individual property taxes entirely.

Steen warned that such action should not be taken without also developing a system to offset the elimination of local property tax revenue. Steen said he was open to a discussion about how that could be accomplished, including by raising the state sales tax.

“If we eliminate property tax, we’ll have to plus up the budget from another source,” Steen told the local party gathering. “The governor can’t deficit spend, and I will never defund the police, firefighters, first responders or our schools. What we can do is work on reform that removes the connection to your property but would, again, be plussed up in another area.”

Two Democrats are campaigning for the party’s gubernatorial nomination: state auditor Rob Sand and West Des Moines consultant and campaign staff veteran Julie Stauch.

Iowa’s primary election is June 2, 2026, and the general election is Nov. 3, 2026.

Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com

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