Trump humiliated after his endorsee in Iowa loses primary
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/6/3/800049805/elections/trump-iowa-feenstra-lahn-gop-primary/
Trump humiliated after his endorsee in Iowa loses primary
President Donald Trump has been riding high after his successful efforts to defeat GOP candidates who dared to defy his demands—but that changed on Tuesday.
Rep. Randy Feenstra, whom Trump endorsed, lost in the Republican primary for Iowa’s gubernatorial race, coming up short to no-name, carpet-bagging, anti-vaccine businessman Zach Lahn. Feenstra lost by less than 1 percentage point, with over 95% of ballots counted.
While Feenstra had Trump’s support, Lahn had the backing of Iowa’s powerful evangelical leaders who often serve as kingmakers in the state’s primaries. And this time, their backing proved to be more important than Trump’s.
Feenstra’s narrow loss to Lahn marks the first loss by a candidate Trump endorsed in the 2026 midterm elections.
And it raises questions about whether the candidates whom he endorsed won because of Trump’s backing or because of their own appeal to Republican primary voters’ worst instincts.
Trump, for his part, backed Feenstra only this past Friday—days before the primary—with one of his signature Truth Social posts.
“As your next Governor, Randy will fight tirelessly to Grow the Economy, Cut Taxes and Regulations, Promote MADE IN THE U.S.A., Unleash American Energy DOMINANCE, Champion our Amazing Farmers and Ranchers, Empower Ethanol, Keep our Border SECURE, Stop Migrant Crime, Ensure LAW AND ORDER, Strengthen our incredible Military, Veterans, and Law Enforcement, Advance Election Integrity, and Defend our always under siege Second Amendment,” Trump wrote.
The endorsement was similar to Trump giving an 11th-hour blessing to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Lone Star State’s Senate contest. Like the Feenstra endorsement, Trump announced his support of Paxton in a Truth Social post just a few days before the primary.
After Paxton won, Trump took credit for Paxton’s win. However, political handicappers pointed out that Paxton’s win was so large that it looks like the Republican whom Trump endorsed against—incumbent Sen. John Cornyn—was going to lose anyway, and Trump’s blessing meant less than he was making it out to seem.
Trump’s endorsement will again be tested in South Carolina next week, after he put his political capital behind Lt. Gov. Pam Evette in the crowded June 9 contest.
Polls show a close race, which will give Trump a chance to show if his blessing in this contest made a difference—or if his other endorsements were flukes.
As for Iowa, Trump’s inability to get Feenstra over the finish line leaves the GOP with an untested nominee whose positions on vaccines—he wants to ban COVID-19 shots and eliminate childhood vaccine requirements—could be a liability in the race.
What’s more, Lahn had the support of former Iowa congressman Steve King, who was so overtly racist that he was publicly punished by his own Republican conference. It’s an endorsement that could bite him in a general election this fall.
“Zach Lahn is a career political operative and Kansas carpetbagger who can’t even commit to living in the state he wants to lead,” Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said in a statement. “When he’s not in Kansas, Lahn has been busy pushing an extreme agenda that’s squarely out-of-touch with Iowans, like supporting unaccountable private school vouchers, pushing costly tariffs, courting Steve King, and backing even deeper cuts to Medicaid.”
Lahn is facing Democrat Rob Sand. Not only has Sand been hailed as a strong candidate, but he is also running in a year when backlash to Trump’s economic policies, which have decimated the state’s farmers.
Iowa’s gubernatorial contest is rated a toss-up by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
We'll get straight to the point: The financial hardships that Daily Kos is facing this year are tough.
We continue to be paywall-free. We continue to be supported by our readers, not billionaires or corporations. But we need to bring in more revenue. We are leaning on our community more than ever to help make ends meet.
Conversation
All comments are subject to our Community Guidelines. The views expressed in comments are those of the individual authors and don't necessarily reflect the views of Daily Kos.
All Comments