Iowa Republican Congressman King loses bid for 10th term, after losing GOP support

Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King on Tuesday night lost his bid for a ninth term, losing a primary challenge spurred in large part by the GOP’s rejection of his history of divisive comments about immigrants and white supremacy.  

King lost his northwest Iowa seat to well funded state Sen. Randy Feenstra, who was the frontrunner among King’s four primary challengers. 

“I said from day one that Iowans deserve a proven, effective conservative leader that will deliver results and I have done that in the Iowa Senate, being in the Iowa Legislature for the last 12 years, and I promise you I will deliver results in Congress,” Feenstra said during a Facebook Live appearance.

The 71-year-old King was stripped of his committee assignments in 2019 for comments appearing to question the criticism of white nationalism in an era of increased sensitivity among Republicans nationally about the alt-right and white supremacists.

He mused in a New York Times story about when the term “white supremacist” became offensive. King said the remarks were taken out of context, according to the Associated Press. 

The 71-year-old had piled up provocative statements throughout the years, comparing immigrants to livestock and appeared to make light of rape and incest in defending his anti-abortion views.