On June 2, the gubernatorial primaries took place in Iowa. This year, five candidates were running for governor on the Republican side and one on the Democratic side.
Adam Steen, Brad Sherman, Eddie Andrews, Randy Feenstra and Zach Lahn all ran for the Republican side, but Lahn ended up winning. Lahn will now face Rob Sand in the governor’s vote Nov. 3, 2026.
President Trump had backed Feenstra for this race. Interestingly, Lahn won without Trump’s backing but with MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) backing him.
Lahn is running on the idea of being a father, businessman and farmer. The four main points that he is running on are: Keeping Iowa’s kids in Iowa, saving the family farm, making our education system number one in the nation again and stopping the water crisis.
In a previous interview before the election, Lahn was asked whether he thought he would win, and this was his response.
“I feel very good about where we are at,” Lahn said. “I think even my opponents are starting to come after me on this, and I think it means you are really making progress; your message is making progress. I feel very good about where we are at, confident even. I got to say that, I think we need to be humble and work really hard because nothing is a given.”
His confidence was in the right place. Now, his team is racing to gear up for the next and final election, where he faces Democratic candidate Rob Sand.
The New York Times has a Global Strategy Poll that has Sand up 9% compared to Lahn. KCCI conducted its polling a little differently because Trump backed Feenstra, but he did not win, which changes everything. KCCI thinks Iowa will now be switching from “likely Republican” to “leaning Republican.” The prospect of Iowa voting leaning Republican rather than likely Republican means this race will be even closer than originally thought.
Every vote counts in this close election. To learn more about Zach Lahn, please visit his webpage. Or to find polling places near you, please visit the State of Iowa’s webpage.