Rep. Randy Feenstra has run his primary campaign for governor like he’s already in the general election. The apparent front-runner has leveled most of his attacks on the presumptive Democratic nominee, state auditor Rob Sand, while largely bypassing the Republican contest unfolding around him.
Feenstra has repeatedly skipped high-profile GOP debates and forums. And while county-level Republicans who spoke to National Journal said they’ve met the other candidates, they’ve rarely seen Feenstra in their area, signaling a potential lack of grassroots support.
In the run-up to Tuesday’s primary, some Republicans are questioning whether Feenstra's campaign style could cost the party the governor’s mansion in November.
“I can only say for my area in Western Iowa, but he does not have the grassroots support because he's not been around,” Monona County GOP Chair Tim Jessen told National Journal.
These concerns come as the stakes for Republicans in the Hawkeye State have grown higher, and not just in the governor’s race. The race has shifted to toss-up territory, driven in large part by Sand’s unusually strong candidacy. Democrats view Sand as one of their top recruits this cycle and say that his candidacy could boost Democratic candidates in congressional and state legislative races. Running unopposed in the primary, Sand reported $18.6 million cash on hand.
Jessen lives in Iowa’s sprawling 4th Congressional District, which Feenstra represents. His local party has hosted candidate meet-and-greets and promoted other candidate events in neighboring counties. Jessen said he has met the other four Republicans on the campaign trail—business owner Zach Lahn, former Department of Administrative Services Director Adam Steen, former state Rep. Brad Sherman, and state Rep. Eddie Andrews—at one-on-ones or larger events, but hasn’t had the same opportunity with his own member of Congress
“[Feenstra] has not been around, so he is very hands-off, and the active party members of Monona County and the local ones that I know of are very off-put by that because he doesn't show up, and he doesn't show up to any of these debates,” Jessen said.
While Feenstra benefits from name ID in the western half of the state, Howard County GOP Chair Neil Shaffer said he isn’t as well known in the northeastern part. Shaffer said that he hasn’t heard much from Feenstra in his area, while Sand “has a big following in northeast Iowa,” where he was born.
In one statewide public survey conducted in April, Feenstra led the GOP primary pool with 41 percent, other candidates got 28 percent, and 31 percent were undecided. Another conducted last week showed Lahn and Feenstra statistically tied, with neither cracking the 35 percent threshold needed to secure the nomination outright. But no public polling has been conducted since President Trump endorsed Feenstra on Friday.
The Howard County GOP has promoted meet-and-greets with Steen and Sherman in Cresco, the county seat, but Shaffer said Feenstra’s campaign has been less communicative with the county party.
“It's been extremely quiet, quite the opposite with the other campaigns," he said. "They keep contacting you and wanting to know what's going on in the county.”
Roger Helmrichs, the Delaware County GOP chair, says he’s hoping Feenstra doesn’t win the primary. Voters in his area are taking notice of Feenstra’s absence in primary debates, too, he added.
“The people that have been paying attention are all wondering the same thing: ‘Why doesn't he want to get together with the other Republicans?’” Helmrichs said.
State Rep. Jason Gearhart, who represents a district in the eastern part of the state, told National Journal that he’s “heard plenty of people from [Feenstra’s] own district refer to him as ‘the absent congressman.’”
Not all Republicans are dissatisfied with Feenstra. West Des Moines Mayor Russ Trimble, who is backing Feenstra and worked with him in the state Senate, said the congressman’s message and track record of cutting taxes in the state is resonating with voters in central Iowa.
“He’s getting a great reception here. I think he got a lot of supporters in central Iowa, but again, you've got a narrative that his opponents are trying to gin up and get going amongst the voters,” Trimble said. “He's got tons of support amongst grassroots Republicans in central Iowa and across the state. So don't believe the hype.”
Feenstra also scored the biggest GOP prize: Trump’s blessing.
“President Trump gave Randy Feenstra his complete and total endorsement to be the next Governor of Iowa because he knows that Randy is a winner and a fighter who will defeat Extreme Liberal Rob Sand,” campaign spokesperson Billy Fuerst told National Journal in a statement. “Randy is the only Republican candidate for Governor who has worked with President Trump to deliver for Iowa.”
Despite some headwinds, Feenstra remains favored heading into Tuesday’s primary. He represents a fourth of the state’s population and its most conservative congressional district. In addition to the Trump nod, he picked up endorsements from Sen. Joni Ernst and Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, and he campaigned with former Gov. Terry Branstad in the final days.
With limited polling, though, it remains unclear where the race stands.
The stakes are high for Feenstra to crack 35 percent. If no candidate meets the vote threshold, delegates would select a nominee at the convention. And there’s no telling how the delegates would vote because they are more politically active and ideologically driven than the primary electorate, political observers told National Journal.
Family Leader President Bob Vander Plaats, a Steen supporter, who has worked the GOP convention floor before, would be influential in boosting anti-Feenstra sentiment. So would former Rep. Steve King, who was ousted by Feenstra in the 2020 primary and is now supporting Lahn.
Some Republicans critical of Feenstra anticipate him surviving on Tuesday. Jessen says he understands Feenstra’s strategy of not debating as the front-runner and denying his opponents soundbites to use against him. Lower-information voters Feenstra is likely to do well with are more likely to see campaign mailers than attend local GOP events, he added.
But some fear the same strategy that may help Feenstra win the primary could leave him vulnerable against Sand.
Sand has spent much of the last year barnstorming the state, completing a 100-town-hall tour while avoiding a primary fight. The GOP county chairs who spoke to National Journal conceded that Sand’s campaigning has made strong inroads with voters who traditionally haven’t leaned towards Democrats.
Feenstra’s aversion to debating in the primary has Helmrichs worried about how he would fare on stage against the Democrat.
“If he can't even sit down with Republicans and justify what his positions are versus theirs, he's going to get steamrolled by Rob Sand,” Helmrichs warned.
Jessen put it even more bluntly.
“If it's Rob Sand and Randy Feenstra, I think the general consensus is our next governor is gonna be Rob Sand.”
