Republican gubernatorial candidate Eddie Andrews took a big swing at competitor Adam Steen at the Polk County GOP’s Lincoln Dinner Thursday, March 26 after tensions had simmered for days.
Andrews, who successfully fended off a challenge to his candidate paperwork the day before, publicly called out Steen’s campaign for playing a role in the challenge and later appearing to deny any involvement.
“When you get caught in a lie and then you issue a statement and then another statement and then another statement and another statement besmirching my name, then I think that’s an issue of heart and not a mistake of mind,” Andrews said to applause.
After the event, Andrews told reporters that he believes the issue reflects “a severe character flaw that should be nowhere near Terrace Hill.”
“If he had honor, he would drop out,” Andrews said.
Steen posted a statement to his campaign’s Facebook page as the dinner began, arguing his campaign reviewed petitions for every candidate “because I believe in ensuring every candidate lawfully meets the requirements to be on the ballot.”
“Overall integrity, however, matters even more,” Steen wrote. “And that is where our campaign fell short of my high standards.”
In the statement, Steen acknowledged that his campaign’s characterization of the events was “misleading” and pledged that “we will do better.”
He did not address the issue from the stage.
Businessman Zach Lahn, another Republican gubernatorial candidate, alluded to the issue in his closing comments.
“Mr. Eddie Andrews it’s an honor to be in this fight with you, to have you alongside as a candidate for governor of Iowa,” he said.
Adam Steen addresses ‘unfortunate’ situation with ballot challenge
Andrews was the last candidate to file his paperwork to the Iowa Secretary of State’s office right at the 5 p.m. deadline Friday, March 13. His campaign rushed to organize and submit the forms in time.
Governor candidates are required to submit at least 3,500 signatures, including a minimum of 100 signatures in 19 or more counties, to qualify for the ballot.
After the deadline, there is a one-week period for people to sift through that paperwork and issue any challenges if they suspect something is awry.
A West Des Moines man and Steen campaign donor, David Bush, filed a challenge to Andrews’ paperwork arguing that he had failed to meet the 100-signature threshold in enough counties to appear on the ballot.
The State Objection Panel reviewed the complaint this week and ultimately rejected the challenge, allowing Andrews’ campaign to proceed.
The panel has booted high-profile candidates from the ballot in the past, and it’s not uncommon for opposing campaigns to help quietly instigate those challenges.
But Steen’s campaign denied it was associated with Bush.
“David Bush is a supporter of our campaign, and we are grateful for his support,” Steen’s communication director Rebekah Oleson said at the time. “However, his decision to file a challenge was made independently, as is his right under Iowa law.”
The Secretary of State’s Office later confirmed that Oleson and Steen’s campaign manager, Rob Peters, were the only people involved in reviewing Andrews’ papers.
After the Lincoln Dinner, Steen told reporters that Bush pursued the challenge “on his own volition” and the campaign provided him the signatures after he approached them.
“I unfortunately said that it was independent of us,” Steen said. “And I realize that the connection between us and those signatures created a non-independence. But it was done of his own volition. And we support that, because he cares about election integrity just like we do. And it was unfortunate. I made a bad comment. But it is what it is.”
Steen said he likes Andrews and he’s “offered him a role within my campaign at least three different times.”
But he said he didn’t think the issue was worth discussing in his speech or moving forward.
“When you have a campaign that has the momentum that we have right now, the last thing I’m going to do is bother myself with little tit for tat things that aren’t going to benefit the campaign of the people of Iowa,” he said. “We’re doubling down on the message that Iowans want to hear. … And the last thing I’m going to do is get into little quarrels with people along the way.”
Kim Reynolds: ‘No such thing as a moderate Democrat’
Gov. Kim Reynolds opened the event by warning Iowa Republicans that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand would wipe out a slate of conservative wins if he’s elected, urging them to show up and vote to “change the narrative on midterm elections.”
Reynolds, who is not seeking another term in office, touted the “conservative, commonsense” policies Republicans have enacted.
She said she and the Republican-led Legislature have passed policies to cut taxes, reduce bureaucracy, make investments in broadband and infrastructure, restrict abortion and enact a sweeping Education Savings Account program.
“Every single one of those wins can be wiped out if we take our foot off the gas,” Reynolds said. “Because no matter what Rob Sand says, there simply is no such thing as a moderate Democrat anymore.”
Sand is currently serving as the state auditor, and he is the only Democrat in the 2026 race for governor. He has cast himself as a centrist politician interested in courting independents and disaffected Republicans as much as Democrats.
“Kim Reynolds is leaving office as the most unpopular governor for two straight years for a reason: she’s dragged Iowa’s economy, schools, and budget into the ditch while making government less efficient and more corrupt,” Sand’s deputy campaign manager Emma O’Brien said in a statement. “The Republicans lining up to replace her are only offering more of the same. Iowans are ready for change, and they’ll get that with Rob Sand.”
Five Republicans are vying for their party’s nomination in the June 2 primary election, and four were on hand to speak at the Lincoln Dinner.
In addition to Andrews, Steen and Lahn, U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra and former state Rep. Brad Sherman are also running.
Feenstra did not attend in person but sent a video address from Washington, D.C., where he said he could not jeopardize Republicans’ one-seat majority in the House of Representatives by leaving.
“I can assure you that I will always cast my vote to support President Trump and the America First agenda, and I’ll never let Iowa become California, Illinois or Minnesota,” he said.
Sherman said his campaign is about “restoring the foundations of freedom.”
“It seems that too many people these days seem to think that rights come from government, but they don’t,” he said. “They come from God. Our founders said that our rights come from the creator.”
Reynolds acknowledged that midterm elections like this year’s tend to favor the party that does not control the White House
But she said Iowa Republicans have a massive voter registration advantage that can help the state run contrary to those national trends.
“We have the record, we have the numbers, and the only way that we see a Rob Sand win is if we don’t show up,” she said. “Because if we show up, we will win.”
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: Andrews: Steen should drop out of governor’s race over ballot access dispute
Reporting by Brianne Pfannenstiel, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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