Politics

Rep. Steve King Faces Uncertain Future In Competitive GOP Primary

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Andrew Trunsky Political Reporter
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Nine-term incumbent Republican Rep. Steve King will square off against Iowa state Sen. Randy Feenstra in the primary election Tuesday.

King has been one of the more controversial Republicans in recent years and has been condemned for what critics call racist and xenophobic comments. In April of 2019 he was stripped of his committee assignments after a New York Times interview in which he asked when terms like “white nationalism” and “white supremacism” had become so offensive. (RELATED: Iowa GOP Rep. Steve King Says He Will Run For Reelection After Losing His Committee Seats)

Feenstra has argued that King being stripped of his committees has made him an ineffective member that is unable to adequately represent those in Iowa’s 4th District, while King has attempted to paint Feenstra as an embodiment of the so-called “swamp” of D.C.

Primary polls show a tight race between the two, though whomever wins is expected to eclipse the 35 percent needed to avoid a runoff.

The winner of tonight’s GOP primary will likely face 2018 Democratic nominee J.D. Scholten in November, who lost to King by three points that year and is running for the seat again in 2020.

Voters in seven states plus the District of Columbia head to the polls Tuesday in the largest primary day since the coronavirus pandemic upended primary elections up and down ballots across the country.

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