Steen is the GOP candidate soaring to new heights

Republican candidate for governor Adam Steen likes to call himself the “faith guy,” and his recent political good fortune could be attributed to a higher power.

Higher, or maybe just taller.

Steen, the former director of the Department of Administrative Services, has seen his stock rise in the GOP primary race thanks in no small part to the foibles of presumed Republican front-runner U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra. You may have heard he’s tall.

If the primary race was an Olympic figure skating competition, Feenstra’s signature move would be the spinning butt-fall.

He can’t even win a participation medal because he has failed to participate.

Feenstra has skipped a series of joint appearances with his GOP rivals, which has more than rankled Republicans who are under the impression their well-known and well-financed candidate should be out mixing it up.

A bunch of Republicans made their dissatisfaction known at recent precinct caucuses. Several counties held unofficial gubernatorial straw polls and Feenstra didn’t do so hot. For example, in Scott County, Steen won handily but Feenstra finished fourth. In Linn County, Steen won the poll and Feenstra was third.

"There is a perceived front-runner right now that has a lot of money, and that person is not here," Steen said at a candidates’ forum in Eldridge last month, according to the Quad-City Times.

"That person doesn't show up in a lot of places, and so if that perceived front-runner becomes the candidate, I believe we have a problem. We are going to have to rally together and drag him across finish line. I don't know if that's possible,” Steen said.

Feenstra traveled on Air Force One with President Donald Trump to a recent Iowa event but did not receive his endorsement. In fact, Fox News reported on a group of Iowa Republicans who signed a petition urging Trump to skip endorsing Feenstra. Fox News!

“Ouch,” Feenstra might have said.

Then Christian conservative “kingmaker” Bob Vander Plaats endorsed Steen, shunning Feenstra, his fellow northwest Iowan. Feenstra’s failure to show up was a major factor in Vander Plaats’ decision.

Steen-mentum is rolling across the land like a wildfire, a blizzard or maybe bird flu. So, what’s up with this guy?

For one thing, Steen describes the election as a “battle of good vs. evil.” Just what we need, another politician who is itching to turn a contest of ideas into a holy war.

For example, there is evil in our public schools.

“We do not have a funding problem within our public schools,” Steen said at a recent forum sponsored by Moms for Liberty, according to IPR News. “We have a problem with ideology and requirements being pushed down upon our kids in public schools that are not right, that are downright evil, and they need to be wiped away.”

But pushing rigid conservative ideology is no problem. Good to know.

And if it hadn’t been for Steen, evil would have taken hold in our Capitol Rotunda.

While directing administrative services, Steen denied permission for the Satanic Temple of Iowa to hold a December event alongside other groups’ holiday finery.

Members of the temple, despite its provocative name, do not worship Satan. They simply want to make sure Iowans understand people of all faiths, or no religion at all, have the constitutional right to speak and assemble in a public place. We do not live in a theocracy, at least for now.

Steen denied the request on the flimsy concern that sticks carried as part of Krampus costumes could be used to harm kids. Krampus is a fictional character from European folklore who punishes naughty children. Emphasis on “fictional. “

But it wasn’t really about sticks.

“Krampus, whose sole purpose in life … is to beat children with sticks and take them to hell. That’s not happening on my watch,” Steen said in October.

In November, Steen and his backers celebrated the denial of the temple’s 2025 event request.

“This is not religious expression. It's not free speech, it is evil,” Steen said. “The reasons I denied this event last year are the same reasons it was denied this year. That's also why I'm the only candidate being sued by the Satanists as I speak. If that's not an endorsement telling our base who the enemy truly fears, I don't know what it is. This moment proves this is a battle between good and evil. Good has won."

It also tells us Steen has little respect for our constitutional rights, especially if violating them adds drama to his stump speech. Also good to know.

Steen’s other claim to fame as DAS director was his role in closing the State Historical Society’s research center in Iowa City. Local researchers, historians and others strongly opposed the move, which has since been stopped by a District Court judge. The Iowa Supreme Court denied a request to remove the temporary injunction.

State law requires facilities in Iowa City and Des Moines. It’s not a tough call.

“I stand by the decision to close the Iowa City State Historical Research Center. I’ve been involved from day one, and every artifact will be preserved and protected. This plan saves millions in taxpayer dollars — money that belongs to hardworking Iowans, not to prop up an outdated, wasteful facility,” Steen wrote in October in a post on X.

“Now the activist crowd is dragging this into court with an unnecessary lawsuit because they can’t stand the idea of responsible government. These are the same voices that attack every time we bring accountability and common sense to government. I won’t bend. I won’t apologize. And I won’t back down,” Steen wrote.

So now historians, donors of artifacts, researchers and really anyone who questions his judgment are an activist mob. It’s public service that shuns the public. Nifty.

Steen believes life begins at conception. Parents should run public schools. All mRNA vaccines should be banned, unleashing an epidemic of “medical freedom.”

But for all his stumbling, Feenstra will probably win the primary if he starts showing up. Steen is making it interesting, but Republicans will start considering who has the best chance to win a general election. And that is probably Feenstra, for all his flaws.

But Steen may still benefit from heavenly help.

After all, he’s the defeated-rotunda-Satan guy. And, speaking as an obvious evildoer, the prospect of Steen becoming governor does scare the hell out of me.

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