From today’s email newsletter:
So, did you hear? Kevin Virgil “endorsed” Congressperson Randy Feenstra’s Democrat opponent, Ryan Melton in Iowa’s Fourth Congressional District. If you follow Gov. Kim Reynolds, Republican Party Chair Jeff Kaufmann or any of Iowa’s congressional delegation then you’ve heard about it.
That’s interesting in and of itself because Kevin Virgil only has 2,160 followers on Twitter. Reynolds, for her part, has an audience significantly larger. While the Iowa GOP establishment was quick to condemn Virgil for his comments, it is interesting they chose to amplify them.
No offense to Kevin Virgil, but 2,160 followers on Twitter is a pretty limited audience. And yes, I say this as someone who has like 4,200-some followers, so I don’t pretend to be some viral Twitter-er. But Reynolds obviously has tens of thousands of followers.
Obviously the hope in amplifying Virgil’s message was to bury him should he think of running in a primary again in 2026. Melton doesn’t stand a chance at winning the U.S. House seat in Iowa’s Fourth District. It isn’t happening.
But obviously the whole thing turned into quite the kerfuffle. Feenstra had a smaller victory than anticipated in the primary. His percentage in counties he dominated in in 2020 dropped significantly in 2024. He even lost some counties to a guy that just moved back to Iowa and decided to run for Congress with just a handful of months to campaign. No name recognition. No experience running for office. No big donors.
Yet there was clearly an appetite among conservatives for a conservative alternative to Feenstra. Why?
Well, it could be the CO2 pipeline/eminent domain issue.
It could be that Feenstra voted against eliminating the Department of Education.
It could be that Feenstra voted to increase spending.
It could be that Feenstra voted to raise the debt ceiling.
It could be that Feenstra voted for the $95 billion foreign aid supplemental package.
It could be that Feenstra voted to require girls sign up for the draft.
It could be that Feenstra’s weakest issues are debt, spending and taxes — according to CPAC.
It could be that Feenstra supported the new FBI headquarters.
It could be that Feenstra voted to certify Joe Biden’s “victory” in 2020.
Feenstra has received a 66 percent score this session from Heritage Action. Feenstra has a 79 percent Liberty Score from Conservative Review. Feenstra has a 79.45 percent from CPAC. Feenstra receives 50 percent from the Republican Liberty Caucus.
I could keep going, but by now if you don’t get it, you won’t get it.
On one hand, Virgil clearly isn’t a politician. His decision to “endorse” Melton is likely not a great move if he wants to run for office again. On the other hand, Virgil never ran as a politician. And he probably has no interest in being a politician.
The reality is incumbents are almost impossible to beat at the U.S. House level in primaries. I mean, look at Virgil vs. Feenstra. Feenstra got by without debating. Kaufmann and Reynolds and the rest of the Republican Party of Iowa never criticized the lack of debate. They like to say Feenstra won his primary campaign and all that — but was it really allowed to be a primary campaign?
Imagine if Kamala Harris pulls out of the debate — or just never agreed to debate Donald Trump. Do you think Kaufmann would be critical of that? Of course. And he should. But shouldn’t that same principle be applied to all campaigns and for all candidates?
Not to mention that sitting members of Congress have a $1 million advantage in money they receive to send out constitutent communications. Feenstra sent a number of postcards and did radio ads paid for by US House Funds. That’s tax dollars, guys. They weren’t campaign commercials, but they were darn close.
This explains why it’s almost impossible to beat incumbent members of Congress. Think about it…congressional approval rating has pretty consistently been around 20 percent. Yet members were re-elected at a 94 percent clip in 2022.
Here is what I’ll say…we should ask ourselves if having a moderate/establishment Republican in the US House for 12 or 20 years is that much worse than having a Democrat in the same seat for two.
And the Team Republican person will say “but, but, but…control of the House is on the line.” If Iowa’s Fourth Congressional District is determining control of the U.S. House of Representatives, we’re screwed. That isn’t going to be the case. It just isn’t.
The reality is the U.S. House seat is 1 out of 435. So if voters feel led to be more principled in their vote for U.S. House, more power to them. If they want to do the Team GOP thing, more power to them. It’s their vote. They should decide how best to use it.
Personally, I would find it difficult to vote for any person who cannot tell me that boys do not belong in girls’ locker rooms and showers. Not to mention abortion. Not to mention climate change. Not to mention religious liberty. Not to mention a plethora of issues.
But I also prefer to vote for someone rather than against someone. I mean, the definition of insanity is literally doing the same thing but expecting a different result, right? And I laid out Feenstra’s four-year congressional record above — as did the most well-respected conservative advocacy groups in Washington D.C.
I’d feel a lot better about voting for Feenstra if the Iowa GOP would actually allow a fair primary that included debate. But they don’t. And they won’t. Because Feenstra has proven to be a “team player” who will do what he is told in D.C.
So, would I go so far as to vote for Ryan Melton for U.S. House? I’ll tell you what, if he can publicly say my 12-year-old daughter has a right to shower in a locker room without a person with a penis in it, then I’ll start to think about it.
But does that mean I’m excited to vote for Randy Feenstra? Seriously? You’ve read this far and don’t know the answer to that question…???
Here’s the deal guys. America is headed in the wrong direction. Traditional politicians have put us in this position. Feenstra is a cookie-cutter, traditional politician.
What that means for your vote and what that means for my vote may be two very different things. I am not going to criticize you for how you decide to cast your vote. I’m not going to criticize Kevin Virgil for how he casts his vote. I understand all the perspectives.
Reality bites, though. And here’s a dose of reality. If we want more principled politicians, at some point we have to decide to be more principled voters.
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Gab – https://gab.com/jacobhall25
Jacob, that was one of the best reporting you have ever written! You emphasized the danger of these voting activities and the danger of soooo much of the unthinking voting that happens right here in our own backyard. Thank you for every word you write that exposes the disappointing lack of informed and principled voting taking place. Never give up, keep printing and reporting exactly what is going on. Very happy to be a supporter of The Iowa Standard. And I will not vote for Feenstra, ever!