A stinging primary defeat in Iowa on June 2 has punctured President Donald Trump’s claim that his political endorsements carry an unbeatable track record, delivering what may be his most humiliating setback since the 2017 Alabama Senate race.
Political outsider Zach Lahn defeated Rep. Randy Feenstra in the Republican gubernatorial primary that night, pulling in 37.8% of the vote to Feenstra’s 37% with 99% of the expected vote counted, according to results. The three-term congressman, widely viewed as the front-runner, had secured Trump’s full backing just days earlier but became the first Trump-endorsed gubernatorial candidate to lose a primary ahead of November’s midterm elections.
The loss came with devastating timing. Hours after Trump sat down for an interview with New York Post columnist Miranda Devine on her “Pod Force One” podcast, filmed at the White House on June 3 and broadcast the following morning, he boasted: “Everybody I endorse wins. I mean, everybody. You saw that, right, last week? Every single person I endorse wins.”
Feenstra conceded to Lahn on June 2 night after the razor-thin outcome became clear. “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 said, recounting his concession call to the victor. Lahn’s margin exceeded Iowa’s 35% threshold, allowing Republicans to skip a party convention and head straight into the general election against Democratic state Auditor Rob Sand.
A Last-Minute Endorsement Falls Flat
Trump had posted his support for Feenstra on Truth Social on May 29, declaring: “Randy Feenstra has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next Governor of Iowa–RANDY WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN.” The president praised the congressman as “MAGA all the way.”
The endorsement arrived too late for Feenstra’s campaign to incorporate it into television advertising during the final stretch. Feenstra also struggled through what observers called a lackluster campaign while facing public opposition from former Rep. Steve King, who had lost to Feenstra in a 2020 primary and backed Lahn in this contest.
Lahn, a conservative political operative and farmer making his first run for public office, campaigned as an insurgent using slogans like “Make Iowa Healthy Again” and “Iowa first.” He focused on limiting foreign and out-of-state ownership of Iowa farmland and attacked “global elites.” Lahn also attracted backing from Turning Point USA, the conservative organization founded by Charlie Kirk, and from grassroots conservatives who saw Feenstra as too aligned with the Washington establishment.
A Trump world strategist tried to downplay the damage in a text message to reporters: “Clearly a Randy problem. Barely won his own district. But, it is what it is. So we go with Lahn.”
Worst Endorsement Loss Since Alabama
The Iowa defeat represents Trump’s most significant primary endorsement failure since Luther Strange, an appointed senator in Alabama, lost to Roy Moore in a 2017 special election primary. Moore subsequently lost the general election to Democrat Doug Jones.
Before June 2, Trump had enjoyed a nearly flawless run of primary endorsements, scoring high-profile victories in Indiana, Louisiana and Texas. He successfully ousted Republican senators Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and John Cornyn of Texas in primary fights, cementing his standing as the dominant force in Republican Party politics.
That Alabama history now looms over Republicans, who suddenly view Iowa’s gubernatorial race as competitive. Gov. Kim Reynolds is not running for reelection, and Democratic state Auditor Rob Sand is running a well-funded campaign. A Democrat has not captured the Iowa governor’s office since 2006, but the Cook Political Report has shifted Iowa all the way to “toss-up,” describing it as a “barnburner” contest and calling the state “the center of the political universe.”
A President Under Pressure
The Iowa setback arrives during a politically fragile period for Trump, who is confronting some of the lowest approval ratings of his political career. Americans are wrestling with economic pressures linked to his increasingly unpopular war with Iran, which the president originally framed as a regime-change operation. The conflict has since escalated into a rapidly widening war that produced a blockade of the critical Strait of Hormuz shipping route, driving oil prices higher.
Iowa’s agricultural sector has suffered particularly from elevated fuel and fertilizer prices — a punishing environment for a candidate positioning himself as Trump’s man in Des Moines. Trump carried Iowa by a 13-point margin over Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race, but voter attitudes have clearly shifted.
The president had disappeared from public view for several days, emerging only through prerecorded interviews and Truth Social posts, including an assertion that negotiations with Iran “have been going on continuously.” His administration also scrapped plans for a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund intended to compensate individuals who claimed they were subjects of political investigations by previous administrations.
Democrats See an Opening
Republican vulnerabilities in Iowa stretched beyond the governor’s race. State legislator and Paralympic gold medalist Josh Turek defeated progressive Zach Wahls in a Democratic Senate primary. Turek will challenge U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson in November for the seat being vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, a race that analysts now view as increasingly competitive.
For Vice President JD Vance and the broader Trump political operation, the Iowa outcome serves as a bright warning signal. The president’s endorsement no longer assures victory — and in a state Trump has won three times, even a final-hour presidential seal of approval could not rescue a congressman who had appeared to be a lock.