Running for Iowa governor from Congress is a tall order

U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, freshly announced Republican candidate for governor, is out traveling the state, hunting for votes.

He wants to take Iowa to “new heights.”

Get it? He’s very tall. He has virtual lock on voters who can’t reach high shelves.

But wherever he shows up, he’s getting questions about Congress.

He toured a Cedar Rapids food pantry this past week because the federal government shutdown is interrupting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, for Iowans who can’t afford adequate food.

He was, of course, asked about the shutdown. He blamed it on Democrats, because they want “$1.5 trillion of extra spending,” according to The Gazette’s Tom Barton.

What Feenstra left out is that’s the cost, over 10 years, of extending subsidies that help millions of Americans pay for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. Without that help, many will have to go without coverage. It’s been Democrats’ line in the sand during the shutdown battle.

Feenstra also talked about the historic tax cuts he voted for in the Bulging, Beastly Bill. They will reduce federal revenue by $4.5 trillion over 10 years.

That bill also cuts Medicaid health coverage for low-income Americans, including disabled people and kids, by $1 trillion over 10 years. It reduces funding to SNAP by $187 billion.

“How do we reduce our poverty? How do we reduce the 10 percent (living in poverty)? How do we make sure people don’t have food insecurity? That’s what we have to address as we move forward,” Feenstra said.

Well, a good start would have been voting against that bill.

And of course, the president was mentioned.

“In Congress, I worked with President Trump to deliver the largest tax cut in U.S. history, keep men out of women’s sports and bathrooms, and stop China from buying Iowa farmland. As governor, I will work with President Trump to advance the America First agenda in Iowa.”

I can see it now, Feenstra and Trump doing bathroom checks.

Questions about his record in Congress will not stop. Like any lawmaker, his record is a target rich environment for attacks. Just when he thinks he’s out of Washinton, Congress will pull him back in.

That’s why running for governor from Congress is so difficult.

That doesn’t mean it’s not popular.

The current House is emptying out, despite all the fun of being part of a dysfunctional government controlled by an erratic autocrat. At one point this year, nearly a dozen members of Congress were considering running for governor in 2026.

On Tuesday night, two congressional Democrats won gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey. See, it can happen!

Iowa has not been fertile ground for members of Congress who want to be governor.

Former U.S. Rep. Jim Ross Lightfoot was among 50 house members who skedaddled before the 1996 election. Lightfoot first lost narrowly to U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin in a particularly nasty race for those genteel times.

In 1998, Lightfoot ran for an open governor’s seat against Democratic state Sen. Tom Vilsack. Lightfoot blew a big lead and lost. One of Vilsack’s hardest working allies was Harkin.

Lightfoot accused Vilsack of supporting “totally nude dancing.” The rest is history.

In 2006, U.S. Rep. Jim Nussel ran for governor. He stitched together his party’s Christian Conservative and moderate wings (yes, moderates still existed) by picking one of his GOP rivals, evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats, as his running mate.

But 2006 was a scandal-plagued year in Congress. At the top of the list, U.S. Rep. Mark Foley was accused of sending sexually explicit emails and texts to teens who worked as congressional pages. Republicans lost both the House and Senate that fall.

Nussle lost to Secretary of State Chet Culver, and it wasn’t close. Democrats also won control of the Iowa Senate and House.

A Democratic trifecta? No, I’m not drunk.

The last U.S. House member elected straight out of Congress as governor of Iowa was Nathan Kendall in 1920. He was unavailable for comment.

So, the record is not great for Congress-types who want to live in Terrace Hill and travel around Iowa doing “a hard 90.”

Sure, politics have changed a lot. But one thing remains the same.

Congress is not popular. According to Gallup, which surveyed Americans just as the shutdown started in October, congressional approval stood at 15 percent. That’s an 11-point decline from September. Even among Republicans, just 33 percent approve.

So, Congress is unpopular. The issues jolting D.C. are thorny – Cut taxes for very wealthy people or fund efforts to help Americans struggling with high costs of living that Republicans promised to bring down? It’s a fundamental debate.

With inflation ticking northward and tariffs tying the economy in knots, an ABC News/ Washington Post/Ipsos poll released last week showed 67 percent of Americans surveyed say the country is going in the wrong direction. Not good.

Then came last week’s election returns. Republicans faired poorly, as did candidates backed by the president. The check engine lights on the GOP victory bus are blinking like crazy.

The big question is, do we really want an active member of the Washington Train Wreck Association to get his hands on our governor’s office?”

I’m pretty sure Feenstra will stick with GOP talking points that contain zero percent of our recommended daily allowance of truth. Radical liberals, yada, yada yada.

Maybe that will work, and maybe not. But one thing is certain. Feenstra is very tall.

(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com