Bob Vander Plaats the Latest to Snub Feenstra as Mess Mounts in Wide-Open GOP Gov Primary

DES MOINES – Bob Vander Plaats injected more chaos into Iowa’s Republican gubernatorial primary this morning by snubbing Randy Feenstra and endorsing Adam Steen — the latest sign that the race continues to be an “unsettled” mess with no clear frontrunner.

Steen is a political insider who worked hand in hand with Kim Reynolds as Department of Administrative Services Director to make Iowa’s state government even more dysfunctional. He has praised Reynolds’ failed record, saying “I support everything that Governor Reynolds is doing.” Steen wants to go even further than Reynolds’ extreme abortion ban, believes that life begins at conception, and would threaten IVF and make it harder for women to access birth control.

In his endorsement, Vander Plaats made it clear that Steen — not Feenstra — is the candidate who can “excite the party’s base” and “leads on his convictions.” Vander Plaats also sharply criticized Feenstra’s pattern of bailing on events with the rest of the primary field, including last week’s Moms for Liberty debate, echoing attacks from Feenstra’s opponents and the conservative grassroots.

As the Des Moines Register reports, this “noteworthy” snub comes as Feenstra “has been unable to clear the primary field” after flopping and finishing a distant third in straw polls at the Iowa Caucuses — causing GOP activists to plan for the “very, very real possibility” of the “chaotic and competitive” primary going to a “contested” convention. Adding to the humiliation for Feenstra is the fact that Vander Plaats previously described him as a “a good friend” and endorsed his bid for Congress over Steve King in 2019.

From Iowa Democratic Party spokesperson Terra Hernandez:

“Randy Feenstra’s ‘good friend’ Bob Vander Plaats throwing his full support behind a different candidate is just the latest embarrassment for his no-show campaign after he flopped at the caucuses and continues to face distrust and discontent from his own party. As this wide-open primary gets messier by the day, the only thing that unites the field is how they’re all running to give Iowans four more years of Kim Reynolds’ worst failures.”

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