A rare loss by a Republican who waltzed into Tuesday’s primary with a high-profile endorsement from Donald Trump has raised concerns that a change is in the air for November’s general election.
According to a report from MS NOW, authored by Hunter Woodall and Alex Tabet, the fact that Rep. Randy Feenstra (R) lost the GOP primary for Iowa governor nomination to rival Zach Lann has Republicans “anxious” about what voters want, with the added threat that Lann’s Democratic opponent might be the next governor.
Iowa’s political terrain has shifted dramatically over two decades, the report notes. Once a presidential battleground, the state has evolved into reliably Republican terrain, voting for Donald Trump three times. In most election cycles, that track record would virtually guarantee a comfortable GOP victory this fall, even as momentum builds on the left — but this year is proving different.
Trump’s endorsement of Feenstra bore all the hallmarks of “a desperate rescue mission, “deployed days before Iowans voted as other rivals positioned themselves competitively,” MS NOW is reporting. Meanwhile, Democrats faced no such internal drama. State Auditor Rob Sand effectively ran unopposed for months, allowing him to focus entirely on the general election without the distractions of a primary fight.
That led Bob Vander Plaats, a conservative evangelical leader in the state to tell MS NOW, “Rob Sand is, he’s a very dangerous candidate, he’s running against both parties.”
The implications extend well beyond the governor’s race, according to the report. A strong performance by Sand could have outsized impact on down-ticket congressional control, potentially helping Democrats as they pursue the state’s open U.S. Senate seat and attempt to flip as many as three congressional districts.
Given Republicans’ narrow House majority, those seats could prove decisive in determining which party controls the chamber. While a Democratic Senate victory in Iowa remains a longshot, it represents one of the few realistic opportunities Democrats have to reclaim Senate control this fall amid an otherwise difficult electoral landscape, the report states.
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