A White House podcast interview filmed on June 3, 2026, featured President Donald Trump declaring that “every single person I endorse wins” — a claim that was already outdated by the time it aired the next morning. Rep. Randy Feenstra, the three-term congressman Trump had endorsed for Iowa governor, had conceded defeat on June 2 to political outsider Zach Lahn in a stunning Republican primary upset that handed the president his worst endorsement failure in years.
The margin was razor-thin. With 99% of the expected vote counted, Lahn secured 37.8% to Feenstra’s 37%, according to election results. Lahn’s total also exceeded Iowa’s 35% threshold, sparing Republicans a drawn-out party convention and enabling an immediate pivot to the general election against Democratic state Auditor Rob Sand. In his concession, Feenstra said he called Lahn directly: “You’ve got to carry this torch, we’ve gotta make sure to beat Rob Sand, and I’m all in to help him out.”
Feenstra became the first Trump-backed gubernatorial candidate to lose a primary ahead of November’s midterm elections. The loss represents Trump’s highest-profile primary endorsement failure since Luther Strange, an appointed senator in Alabama, fell to Roy Moore in a 2017 special election primary. Moore went on to lose the general election to Democrat Doug Jones.
A Last-Minute Endorsement Falls Flat
Trump’s endorsement came remarkably late. On May 29, 2026, just days before the vote, the president wrote on Truth Social, “Randy Feenstra has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next Governor of Iowa–RANDY WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN.” He praised the congressman as “MAGA all the way.”
The late timing prevented Feenstra’s campaign from featuring the endorsement in television ads during the crucial final stretch. Observers also described Feenstra’s campaign as lackluster, and he faced public opposition from former Rep. Steve King, who lost to Feenstra in a 2020 primary and lined up behind Lahn this time around. A Trump world strategist sought to minimize the damage in a text message to reporters, noting that Feenstra had struggled to win his own district.
Lahn, a conservative political operative and farmer who had never run for public office, mounted an insurgent bid with slogans like “Make Iowa Healthy Again” and “Iowa first.” He campaigned on restricting foreign and out-of-state ownership of Iowa farmland and railed against “global elites.” Lahn also drew support from Turning Point USA, the conservative group founded by Charlie Kirk, and from grassroots conservatives who viewed Feenstra as too cozy with the Washington establishment.
Democrats See an Opening
That history is now haunting Republicans, who see Iowa’s gubernatorial race as suddenly competitive. Gov. Kim Reynolds is not seeking reelection, and Rob Sand is mounting a well-funded campaign. A Democrat has not won the Iowa governor’s office since 2006, but the Cook Political Report has moved Iowa all the way to “toss-up,” calling it a “barnburner” contest and the state “the center of the political universe.”
Republican cracks in Iowa extended beyond the governor’s race. State legislator and Paralympic gold medalist Josh Turek defeated progressive Zach Wahls in a Democratic Senate primary. Turek will face U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson in November for the seat being vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, a race that analysts now consider increasingly competitive.
Worst Endorsement Loss Since Alabama
Until June 2, Trump had been riding a near-perfect streak of primary endorsements, with high-profile wins in Indiana, Louisiana and Texas. He had helped topple Republican senators Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and John Cornyn of Texas in primary battles, building a reputation as the gold standard of Republican Party politics.
Sitting down with New York Post columnist Miranda Devine on her “Pod Force One” podcast, filmed at the White House on June 3 and aired the next morning, Trump declared, “Everybody I endorse wins. I mean, everybody. You saw that, right, last week? Every single person I endorse wins.”
A President Under Pressure
The Iowa stumble lands at a politically delicate moment for Trump, who is facing some of the weakest approval ratings of his political career. Americans are grappling with economic pressures tied to his increasingly unpopular war with Iran, which the president initially presented as a regime-change operation. The conflict has since spiraled into a rapidly expanding war that has led to a blockade of the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping route, sending oil prices soaring.
Iowa’s agricultural sector has been hit especially hard by high fuel and fertilizer prices — a brutal backdrop for a candidate selling himself as Trump’s man in Des Moines. Trump won Iowa by a 13-point margin over Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race, but voter sentiment has plainly soured.
Trump had been out of the public eye for six days, surfacing only through prerecorded interviews and Truth Social posts, including a claim that negotiations with Iran “have been going on continuously.” His administration also abandoned plans to create a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund designed to compensate individuals who said they were targets of political investigations by previous administrations.
For Vice President JD Vance and the rest of the Trump political operation, the Iowa results are a flashing warning light. The president’s endorsement no longer guarantees victory — and in a state Trump has carried three times, even a last-minute presidential blessing was not enough to save a congressman who once looked like a sure thing.
