By Dar Danielson (Radio Iowa)
Businessman and first-time candidate Zach Lahn has narrowly won the Iowa GOP’s nomination for governor, finishing less than a percentage point ahead of Congressman Randy Feenstra with 98 of 99 counties reporting full results.
“Nobody thought this could be done. We were outspent, opposed by the establishment, told to wait our turn,” Lahn said. “Well, tonight the people of Iowa had something to say about that — that we’re not going to wait anymore!”
Lahn said his supporters have sent a message about the status quo and he’s pledging to break up monopolies and “the ag cartels” and address Iowa’s rising cancer rate. “They said Iowa doesn’t belong to the political class,” Lahn said. “They said our state does not belong to the lobbyists, special interests and corporate giants who for far too long have had way too much power in our state.”
Lahn will face Democrat Rob Sand in the General Election. Lahn said Sand presents himself as a moderate, but would govern like a radical, and his campaign is funded by special interests and his wealthy family. “We have a message for Rob Sand and the establishment tonight: Iowa is not for sale,” Lahn said, to cheers.
Lahn pledges to be the biggest donor to his campaign, a campaign he said is inspired by his great-great grandfather who bought a homestead near Belle Plaine. “Every generation of my family has worked to build Iowa, has loved Iowa and has fought for Iowa,” Lahn said, “and now it’s my turn to do the same with all of you.”
In the Primary, Lahn faced an opponent who was better known and had a campaign funding lead when the race began in earnest last November. In the closing weeks of the campaign, Lahn raised more money than Feenstra, then last Friday Feenstra got President Trump’s endorsement as Lahn was endorsed by Turning Point USA. “Tonight is just the beginning. The fight starts now,” Lahn said, to cheers.
Feenstra spoke briefly to supporters in his hometown of Hull late Tuesday night. “I just called Zach Lahn and said: ‘Hey, you’ve got carry this torch. We’ve got to keep this state red. You’ve got to make sure you beat Rod Sand,’” Feenstra said. “I’m all in to help him out. We are going to make sure that we have him as the next governor.”
Feenstra has held elected office for two decades, serving as Sioux County Auditor, a state senator and, since 2021 as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. “I’m so looking forward to that new chapter in life,” Feenstra said. “I’ve been in politics a long time and, you know what? God has now said: ‘Hey, Randy, we’re into something else that’s exciting.’”
Feenstra led the crowd in a prayer of thanks and of support for Lahn’s campaign for governor. “I don’t know how some people get through this, but for me, I’m O.K.,” Feenstra said. “I mean my faith has taught me, right? My faith teaches me that — you what? — we’re going to further the Kingdom in a different way.”
Sand, who did not have a Primary opponent, officially won the Democratic Party’s nomination for governor yesterday. Sand, who spoke with reporters after casting his Primary ballot in Des Moines, said Iowans are frustrated about what’s happened while Republicans have held the governorship and GOPmajorities in the legislature. “I’m not here to tell you that the answers to 10 years of one-party control is to give the other party 10 years of one-party control, but I do think it’s time to say enough,” Sand said. “…It’s time for balanced government in Iowa.”
Sand, who has been state auditor since 2019, said for much of his life Democrats and Republicans had to share control of the levers of state government and Iowans kept electing Republican Chuck Grassley and Democrat Tom Harkin to the U.S. Senate. “I want Iowa to be divided government,” Sand said. “I think most Iowans are ready for that and they would see it as meaningful change in the right direction.”
(Reporting by Radio Iowa’s Dar Danielson at Lahn headquarters in West Des Moines, reporting by Carson Schubert of KSOU from Feenstra’s event in Hull and additional reporting by Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson)
