Johnston Republican state legislator announces campaign for Iowa governor, vows to take on money in politics

DES MOINES — Saying he wants to serve Iowans and prove that money cannot buy elections, Johnston Republican state lawmaker Eddie Andrews announced his campaign for Iowa governor on Wednesday.

The 59-year-old Andrews has represented Johnston in the Iowa House since 2021. He describes his professional experience as a tech entrepreneur and minister.

“With your help, we’re going to make Iowa even better than it’s ever been,” Andrews said in a press conference outside the Iowa Capitol. “This is going to be a mandate on money. I want to challenge everyone here to see if we can really and truly have a ground-up campaign.”

Iowa is set for an open-seat election for governor in 2026. Republican incumbent Gov. Kim Reynolds, who has held the post since 2017, announced earlier this year that she will not seek re-election.

Andrews is the third official Republican candidate for governor — he joins Congressman Randy Feenstra, of Hull, and former state lawmaker Brad Sherman, of Williamsburg.

Ankeny Republican state lawmaker Mike Bousselot has said he is exploring a run for governor, and other Iowa Republicans — including Attorney General Brenna Bird and House Speaker Pat Grassley — have said they are mulling a gubernatorial campaign.

Two Iowa Democrats — state auditor Rob Sand and consultant and campaign veteran Julie Stauch — have announced and filed state paperwork to run for governor.

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Andrews said he will not have the same resources as other candidates for governor — he alluded to Sand, who has already raised more than $10 million in 2024 and 2025, $7 million of which came from his wife’s family. But Andrews also said he will soon announce a seven-figure donation to his campaign.

“There’s no reason we should have money being the primary decider in who gets elected. Why do we tolerate that? Let’s remove that,” Andrews said to reporters at his campaign announcement event. “It should be we the people, not we with money. …

“We just set up our (campaign) checking account yesterday, so we don’t have $10 million in there yet. But we have seven figures committed by one group, and we’ll be announcing that soon,” Andrews said. “Doesn’t mean we can’t raise any money, right? But I can tell you that if you were a political consultant, you probably would not advise me to get in the race, just looking at the obstacles. But we don’t see obstacles. We see opportunities. And the people of the State of Iowa deserve a governor who will listen, who will respond and make Iowa the best state of all 50.”

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Andrews said during his five years in the Iowa Legislature, he has worked on mental health care, autism, landowner rights, medical freedom, and human trafficking. As governor, Andrews said he wants to work on education of all kinds — public, private and charter — as well as property taxes and landowner rights.

He also highlighted his electoral victories in a politically competitive area of the Des Moines metro. He defeated a Democratic incumbent in 2020, and the House district he represents — and has won three times — is in an Iowa Senate district represented by a Democrat.

Andrews said in his previous elections he has campaigned only for himself, not against other candidates, and that he will do the same in this campaign.

“In my three races, I didn’t run against the Democrat. I just said, ‘I’m not running against you. I’m running for Iowa. I’m running for these ideas, and let you choose whether or not you believe I’m the best candidate for that,’” Andrews told reporters.

Eddie Andrews is married to Betty Andrews, who is president of the Iowa and Nebraska chapter of the NAACP.

Eddie Andrews invited two individuals to speak ahead of him at Wednesday’s campaign announcement event: Shanna Sieck, an Iowa mother who, motivated by her son’s experience, advocated for a new state law that created a pediatric palliative care license to establish hospice care for children; and Oliver Bardwell, of the conservative advocacy group Iowans for Freedom.

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

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