Iowa’s Republican candidates for governor are making their final pitches to voters across the state as they hope to lock in support ahead of Tuesday’s primary elections.
At a West Des Moines poolside gathering, U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra promised to build on the foundations of Iowa governors Terry Branstad and Kim Reynolds to “take this state to new heights.”
And in the basement of a Newton events venue, businessman Zach Lahn told supporters he would “fight for the next generation against the special interests that seek to exploit or extract” from Iowans.
The two are expected to lead the five-person primary race that also features state Rep. Eddie Andrews, former state Rep. Brad Sherman and former state administrator Adam Steen.
All five have been crossing the state and sharing their journeys in flurries of social media posts and media interviews.
Early voting has been ongoing, and Election Day polls open Tuesday, June 2 at 7 a.m.
One candidate will need to earn 35% of the vote to win the election outright. If nobody meets that benchmark, the nomination will be decided by grassroots delegates at a statewide convention.
Feenstra entered the governor’s contest as the presumed favorite, boasting high-profile endorsements, millions of dollars in fundraising and higher name ID than his competitors.
But he’s been unable to comfortably consolidate support going into Election Day, particularly among MAGA-aligned grassroots Republicans who view him with skepticism.
He’s also struggled to win over supporters who have criticized him for declining to debate his opponents or appear at most multi-candidate forums.
It would remain a major upset for Feenstra to lose the nomination, and the congressman has said he believes he’ll win the nomination outright on Election Day.
But others, even within Feenstra’s orbit, acknowledge a convention remains a possibility in the race.
“I’m hopeful that Randy can get the 35%,” former Republica Gov. Terry Branstad, who has endorsed Feenstra, told the Des Moines Register. “But it’s no sure thing when you’ve got five candidates.”
Lahn, who has shown signs of momentum, said he also expects to win.
“I know we have a shot to win the primary outright. I absolutely do,” Lahn told reporters. “You know, we’re looking at data ourselves, and we can see. There’s a reason that we’ve been enduring attacks by our main opponent. It’s because we’re winning.”
Iowa GOP governor’s race turns negative with competing attack ads
The race has taken a more negative tone in the crucial final days of the race.
The Feenstra campaign began running an ad targeting Lahn over his investment in a men’s sexual health company.
Lahn said he invested $1 million into the company in its early stages as it was building medical technology but stepped away from the board of directors before it began marketing a line of pleasure products.
Lahn dismissed the ad, calling it “typical politics” and a sign that his campaign is surging.
A super PAC called Right America Inc. has also begun airing TV ads attacking Feenstra on immigration.
The ads target Feenstra for his work reaching out to the Hispanic community while working as Hull City administrator. In a news article at the time, Feenstra said the city would not be checking the immigration status of participants in a community conversation.
Feenstra called the ad “disingenuous” and said he has worked with President Donald Trump to “shut the border down, and we deported illegals.”
Lahn said the group and the ad was “not at all” associated with his campaign.
Is Zach Lahn gaining momentum ahead of Election Day?
The negative turn comes amid signs that Lahn could be gaining momentum.
Lahn outraised Feenstra in both of the two most recent fundraising periods, according to the Iowa Ethics & Campaign Disclosure Board.
And a poll released by JMC Analytics and Polling conducted May 27-28 found Lahn leading Feenstra 27% to 24%.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.18%.
That’s in contrast to a previous poll of the primary field conducted April 14-15 by Victory Enterprises, an Iowa-based Republican consulting firm associated with Feenstra’s campaign. That poll found the congressman led the GOP field with 41% of the vote.
The margin of error was plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
In the last-minute scramble, some Republicans have shifted their positions on the candidates.
Trump, who had been staying neutral in Iowa’s gubernatorial primary, got off the sidelines and issued a long-awaited endorsement of Feenstra Friday, May 29.
The Feenstra campaign immediately began blasting the endorsement in a quickly cut TV ad.
The endorsement rattled some anti-Feenstra activists who saw the move as an effort by the Republican establishment to blunt Lahn’s momentum.
It could prove crucial in buoying Feenstra among late-deciding voters just tuning into the race.
Conservative commentator Steve Deace, who previously endorsed Steen for governor, came out in support of Lahn the next day.
He filmed a video that was texted to voters May 30, urging them to support Lahn.
“If you want to stop Randy Feenstra from handing our state over to Rob Sand, then you need to vote for Zach Lahn on Tuesday,” Deace said in the video. “Zach is the only candidate with the momentum and the possibility of beating Randy Feenstra, so that Randy Feenstra doesn’t hand our state over to Rob Sand to turn Iowa into the next Minnesota.”
Deace later clarified on social media that he is still voting for Steen.
“I thought (Steen) was the most prepared to be governor,” he wrote in a post on X. “Unfortunately as a candidate he just never took off.”
Randy Feenstra spends down war chest, Zach Lahn again raises more
Feenstra has spent down his campaign war chest over the course of the primary race, leaving less than $150,000 in his bank account as of the May 29 filing.
It illustrates the degree to which Feenstra has had to defend his frontrunner status in the relatively rocky primary.
But he dismissed the idea that the primary has been more of a slog than he anticipated at the outset.
“You know what, this is Iowa. This is awesome,” Feenstra said. “We’re all civically engaged. That’s a great thing.”
Gubernatorial candidates were required to file their final campaign finance disclosures before the primary on Friday, May 29.
The disclosures cover a much shorter window than previous reports, disclosing fundraising and spending during just the 12 days beginning May 15.
Lahn raised about $60,000 during that period and gave himself a $500,000 loan, bringing the total he’s given his campaign to $2.5 million over the course of the election cycle.
Feenstra raised about $38,500 during the most recent disclosure period. It marks the second fundraising period in a row that contributions to Feenstra have fallen short of those made to Lahn.
Lahn also spent more than Feenstra as he looks to close ground with the presumed frontrunner, putting about $633,000 into the race compared to Feenstra’s roughly $476,000 in spending.
Randy Feenstra touts tax cuts, promises to debate Rob Sand
One of Feenstra’s final campaign stops was an event hosted by West Des Moines Mayor Russ Trimble. In attendance were Branstad, numerous legislators, lobbyists and local elected officials.
Feenstra joked there were so many elected officials, “maybe we should talk property taxes for a while, what do you think?”
He touted his work in Congress helping to draft tax cuts included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including agricultural provisions and others that will “dramatically affect our state.”
“Every day I thought about, what can I do for Iowa?” he said.
Feenstra said it’s important to defeat Sand, and he told reporters after the event that he looks forward to debating him in the general election.
“I’ll do it anywhere, anyplace,” Feenstra said. “Wherever he wants to do it, I’ll debate.”
As the race reaches its final days, Feenstra said he is urging Iowans to vote as part of their civic duty.
“I’m begging everybody,” he said, “just get out and vote.”
‘Energized’ Zach Lahn says he wants to defend Iowans against special interests
In his final message to a group of supporters in Newton, Lahn pitched himself as a candidate willing to take on big corporations and fight monopolies.
“We have a very rich history in our state of people going into public office to defend the people against the special interests,” he said. “And that is what my campaign is all about. To give our people a voice again.”
Lahn also secured a big endorsement in the final days of the race from Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point Action.
“Much of our campaign is centered around the issues he and I both cared about for a very long time,” Lahn said on social media.
In the final days of the race, Lahn told reporters he feels “energized.”
He said he’s proud to have helped drive a larger conversation around issues such as cancer rates, water quality and Iowans leaving the state.
“I believe that on June 2 we can come out victorious in the race,” he said. “But also, I believe that we’ve changed the narrative, and I hope that lasts. And I’m going to be involved in helping that last no matter what.”
Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Des Moines Register. She writes about campaigns, elections and the Iowa Caucuses. Reach her at bpfann@dmreg.com or 515-284-8244. Follow her on X at @brianneDMR.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Salty Iowa GOP governor primary barrels toward June 2 election
Reporting by Brianne Pfannenstiel, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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