Businessman Zach Lahn won the Republican nomination for Iowa governor Tuesday night and will face Democratic State Auditor Rob Sand in the general election.
Nonpartisan election analysts at The Cook Political Report have labeled Iowa's wide-open governor's race a "toss up" — the most competitive category. Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds declined to seek a third term in office.
Lahn told his supporters at a hotel in West Des Moines that he was outspent and opposed by "the establishment."
"Well tonight, the people of Iowa had something to say about that, that we're not going to wait anymore" he said. "They said Iowa doesn't belong to the political class. They said our state does not belong to the lobbyists, special interests and corporate giants who, for far too long, have had way too much power in our state. Instead, you all said this belongs to the people."
Results from the AP show that with 99% of votes counted, Lahn got 37.8% of the vote, and U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra got 37%. Feenstra conceded the race to Lahn Tuesday night.
It was a major upset for Feenstra, who was initially viewed as the frontrunner in the primary and was endorsed by President Donald Trump a few days before the election.
At his election night event in Hull, Feenstra said he "came up just a little short." He said he called Lahn and urged him to keep Iowa red.
"I'm all in to help him out," Feenstra said. "We're going to make sure we have him as the next governor."
The other Republican candidates were former state agency director Adam Steen, pastor Brad Sherman and state Rep. Eddie Andrews.
Lahn, who lives in Belle Plaine, has campaigned on combating Iowa's high cancer rates, preserving family farms, keeping young people from leaving the state and improving the state's education system.
He was endorsed by the political arm of the "Make America Healthy Again," or MAHA, movement. Lahn has said big agriculture companies have lied to Iowans about the safety of their products, and that Iowa needs cleaner water and lower cancer rates.
"I will take on the big ag cartels," Lahn said Tuesday night in his victory speech. "I will break up their monopolies, and I will get Iowa farmers a fair deal."
He has called for banning COVID vaccines, using antitrust lawsuits to target monopolies and lower prices, and for putting a moratorium on new data centers. He has said both Republicans and Democrats "have been bought off by special interests" and that he is "fighting the uniparty."
Lahn grew up near Sioux City, worked for members of Congress from two other states, and worked in Montana for Americans for Prosperity. Lahn also helped start a private school in Wichita, Kansas, which was funded by Chase and Annie Koch. Annie is now married to Lahn.
Lahn spends a significant amount of time at his second home in Kansas, The Des Moines Register reported. He and his wife have children from previous marriages, and Lahn said he flies his own plane between the two states to spend time with his blended family.
He loaned his campaign $2.5 million as of May 29. Lahn ended the most recent fundraising period with $636,000 cash on hand.
Sand ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination for governor. He ended the most recent campaign fundraising period with $18 million cash on hand, including millions of dollars in contributions from his wife and in-laws.
Emma O'Brien, Sand's deputy campaign manager, said Sand is entering the general election with historic grassroots momentum.
"No matter which flawed candidate emerges from the primary tonight – if any – they'll still be running on the same failed agenda that has left Iowa families behind," she said. "After a decade of one-party rule, Iowans are ready to turn the page, and in November, they'll elect Rob Sand as the next governor of Iowa."
Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann congratulated Lahn on his primary election win.
"The Republican Party of Iowa has and always will be a grassroots-powered, bottom-up movement, and they have spoken," Kaufmann said. "Zach will work to keep Iowa the best place to live, work and raise a family. Now it is time to unite behind our nominee and stop Democrat Rob Sand, who would take our state down the same failed path as Illinois, Minnesota and California with higher taxes, bigger government and less freedom. Iowa's future is on the ballot, and Republicans must stand together to keep our state moving in the right direction."
Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart called Lahn "a career political operative and Kansas carpetbagger" who is "pushing an extreme agenda."
"Iowans have had enough of failed one-party rule and untrustworthy political insiders like Lahn," Hart said. "The more they get to know him, they will see exactly why Lahn is wrong for Iowa, and they will send him back to Kansas in November."
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