OAN Staff Sophia Flores
7:55 AM – Wednesday, June 3, 2026
Venture capitalist Zach Lahn has advanced in one of the hottest anticipated races in the country, as it is Iowa’s first completely open-seat governor’s race in 20 years after Republican incumbent Governor Kim Reynolds announced she would not seek a third term after nearly a decade in office.
On Tuesday, according to the Associated Press, with 99% of the total votes counted, Lahn, 35, was announced the winner in the tight five-man field. He received 80,765 votes, or 37.8%.
The Republicans in the race were Randy Feenstra, who received a flat 37% of the vote, Adam Steen, Brad Sherman, Eddie Andrews and Lahn.
Feenstra, the current U.S. representative for Iowa’s 4th congressional district, received high-level endorsements from U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Iowa Lieutenant Governor Chris Cournoyer and President Donald Trump.
Trump reiterated his backing of Feenstra just hours before the June 2nd primary was set to begin. The president stated that “Randy is MAGA all the way!” and told his followers that the congressman will “NEVER LET YOU DOWN!”
Feenstra campaigned on a strong “America First” platform centered around his high-profile endorsement from Trump and a pledge to protect Iowa’s agricultural economy. His message to voters focused on freezing local property taxes, lowering health insurance premiums, and preventing Iowa from adopting the liberal policies of neighboring states.
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Steen, the former director of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services, compared himself to Trump on his website, writing, “Like President Trump, I prefer to actually get things done.” His campaign slogan was “KEEP IOWA FREE; Preserve Iowa’s freedom. Protect Iowa’s future.”
Sherman is a former Iowa State Representative who was the very first candidate to enter the race, before Reynolds (R-Iowa) had formally announced that she would not seek re-election. His platform centered entirely on protecting individual liberties, vowing to permanently ban future government shutdowns while defending property owners from private pipeline land seizures.
Andrews is a politician who has served in the Iowa House of Representatives since 2021. During the campaign trail, he pitched himself as a unifying, solutions-oriented conservative who can bridge the gap between rural and urban Iowans.
Lahn, a businessman and a sixth-generation Iowa farmer, was backed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) organization and Turning Point Action. His unconventional platform focused on combating the state’s rising cancer rates by fighting agricultural monopolies, restricting foreign land ownership, and stopping corporate pipeline companies from using eminent domain.
Lahn lives in Belle Plaine with his wife, Annie, and their seven children. On his campaign website, he said he believes Iowa can and should be the “most family-centered state in America.”
The Democrat primary is uncontested, with current Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand running as the sole candidate.
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