Gubernatorial candidate in key 2028 White House election cycle state announces record fundraising haul

FIRST ON FOX: An Iowa House Republican is announcing a record-setting fundraising haul in his quest for higher office.

Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, raised $4.3 million in seven months of campaigning for governor through 2025, with roughly 2,000 individual contributions.

It's the most a Republican candidate in Iowa has raised in an off-year without any major elections, his campaign told Fox News Digital.

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Whoever wins the governorship in Iowa this November will be a key player in the next presidential election cycle, when national attention will surge to Des Moines ahead of the Iowa caucuses in the race to replace President Donald Trump.

"Our campaign set this record of $4.3 million raised because Iowans believe in our vision to take our state to new heights and advance President Trump’s America First agenda in Iowa," Feenstra said in a statement.

Feenstra, a member of the influential House Agriculture and Ways and Means committees, was first elected to Congress in 2020.

He currently represents Iowa's heavily rural 4th Congressional District.

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The Midwest lawmaker is considered the polling and fundraising frontrunner for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in this year’s race to succeed retiring longtime GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds. 

The conservative governor, who has served in office since 2017, announced last April that she wouldn’t seek re-election in 2026.

Also running for the Republican nomination are Adam Steen, former director of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services; state Rep. Eddie Andrews, and former state Rep. Brad Sherman.

Iowa Auditor Rob Sand is seen as the frontrunner to become the gubernatorial Democratic nominee.

The Cook Report, a leading nonpartisan political handicapper, rates the Iowa gubernatorial race as Lean Republicans. Another top handicapper, Inside Elections, ranks the race as Likely Republican.