Republican Adam Steen launched his campaign for governor at Berean Church in Pleasant Hill on Tuesday night. The event featured worship music and an introduction from Pastor Gary Pilcher.
Steen detailed his faith journey and his relationship with his wife and kids. He laid out a timeline of moments that led to his decision to run for governor. He wasted little time expressing support for President Donald J. Trump, recounting the day Trump was nearly assassinated in Pennsylvania.
“As the President went to the ground, my heart sank, sadness filled me and anger gripped me,” he said. “I agonized for this country. But as the President stood up, when he stood up, he shrugged off the Secret Service and he said ‘Fight, fight, fight.’ My heart leapt and I said that dude is a stud. and I would follow that guy into a fight any day.”
On Tuesday morning, Steen resigned as Director of the Department of Administrative Services. He said he walked away from a job he loves so he could join the fight and defend the state he loves.
One of the questions surrounding Steen’s candidacy for many is who is Adam Steen. “Keyboard warriors,” as Steen called them, joined the party, asking who he is what lane he is running in and if he is a “plant.”
“I am the faith guy,” Steen said. “I’m the Jesus guy. I’m a Make America Great Again Guy. I’m a common-sense policy, America First, people first guy.”
Steen said he was honored to have worked with the “amazing” Gov. Kim Reynolds, calling her the greatest governor in Iowa history.
He went on to say he is a “life at conception guy” and a “sanctity of life guy.”
“I’m a guy that stood in front of the satanists when they blatantly targeted our children and I’m the guy getting sued by the satanists for protecting our children,” he said. “I’m the guy that denied a request for an all-ages, family-friendly drag show at the Capitol. You never heard about that, did you? You didn’t hear about it because I risked being sued again, but I don’t care because I’ll never stop fighting for our children.”
Steen pledged to be the guy to protect private property ownership rights and the guy who will refuse to cave to big money or “DC economics.” He also touted transferring over 2,000 acres from the state to local farmers and communities.
He also said he was the guy who stood in front of thousands of protestors at the Capitol and established rules to let them speak freely but made the call and had them removed when they crossed the line.
“The vulgarity, the screams, the hatred,” he said. “I stood literally face to their masked face and I did not back down.”
Steen also cautioned that the ideas of California would take root in Iowa if Democrats get control of the state.
Ultimately, he said he is ready to step up and lead Iowa.
“I’m the guy that’s already being called a political plant by the fake-named internet warriors,” he said. “Well, guess what? I do not care. I will stand up for Iowans. I’ll stand up for families. I will not cave, I will not cower and I’ve got the receipts to prove it.”
You can learn more about Steen’s candidacy here.
