Kevin Virgil
Kevin Virgil (Republican Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Iowa's 4th Congressional District. He lost in the Republican primary on June 4, 2024.
Virgil completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Kevin Virgil was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. Virgil served in the U.S. Army from 1991 to 2000. He earned a bachelor's degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1995 and a graduate degree from Emory University in 2002. His career experience includes working in government intelligence and as an entrepreneur.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Iowa's 4th Congressional District election, 2024
Iowa's 4th Congressional District election, 2024 (June 4 Republican primary)
Iowa's 4th Congressional District election, 2024 (June 4 Democratic primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House Iowa District 4
Incumbent Randy Feenstra defeated Ryan Melton and Charles Aldrich in the general election for U.S. House Iowa District 4 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Randy Feenstra (R) | 67.0 | 250,522 |
 | Ryan Melton (D)  | 32.7 | 122,175 | |
 | Charles Aldrich (L) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 0 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 1,127 | ||
| Total votes: 373,824 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Iowa District 4
Ryan Melton advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Iowa District 4 on June 4, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ryan Melton | 99.2 | 6,482 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.8 | 52 | ||
| Total votes: 6,534 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Jay Brown (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Iowa District 4
Incumbent Randy Feenstra defeated Kevin Virgil in the Republican primary for U.S. House Iowa District 4 on June 4, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Randy Feenstra | 60.1 | 26,781 |
 | Kevin Virgil | 39.6 | 17,661 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 125 | ||
| Total votes: 44,567 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Virgil in this election.
Campaign themes
2024
Campaign website
Kevin Virgil’s campaign website stated the following:
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Today, the federal government employs over three million people - a number that has remained largely unchanged since World War II. Meanwhile, labor productivity in the private sector has increased 225% since 1945. In other words, technological advances have enabled today's average private-sector worker to do more work than two workers could have completed 80 years ago. This indicates that the federal government workforce is twice as big as it needs to be, and could easily provide the same quality of services - and in many cases better - if we reduced the headcount to less than 1.5 million employees. America’s out-of-control federal bureaucracy is now our gravest national security threat. It is largely responsible for our $34 trillion budget deficit. Additionally, as recent events have shown, several federal agencies are now being weaponized against the American people. Left unchecked, the federal administrative state will bankrupt this country and irreversibly alter our national values. I support a permanent 50% reduction of federal employees across the board, as a first step.
The Tenth Amendment states that “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” America has forsaken this principle and we desperately need to return to it. I will work tirelessly to limit federal government powers and close down all bureaucracies that violate the Tenth, to include:
I support a permanent 50% reduction of federal employees across the board, as a first step.
Every ‘war’ that America has entered in the 21st century has become an unmitigated disaster that serves to enrich the military-industrial complex while placing needless burdens upon the taxpayer. The Constitution does not convey the right for our federal government to engage in ‘nation-building’ or to act as the world’s policeman. America must return to a foreign policy that promotes free and fair trade over military adventurism and ‘regime change’ that enriches the military-industrial complex. Support for the war in Ukraine is a travesty and must be ended immediately. I also support a withdrawal from NATO, an organization that lost its raison d’etre when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. I firmly believe in Israel’s right to exist, and that Israel has every right to defend itself against its foreign and domestic enemies. I also recognize that Israel is a wealthy country with a lower debt-to-GDP ratio than America, and that providing financial and economic aid to Israel does not put America first when our federal government is fiscally insolvent. I will oppose any agreement or treaty that infringes on the sovereignty of the United States. The United Nations has far exceeded its original remit and now seeks to enforce radical agendas such as compulsory global vaccination and climate change, which I will never support.
The defense of the nation against foreign threats is a duty and power that the Constitution reserves for the federal government. Any government official that willfully refuses to execute this power must be immediately impeached and removed. I am a veteran and I support a strong national defense, as well as investment in training and cutting-edge technology that strikes fear into the hearts of America’s enemies. I do not support the neo-conservative ‘regime change’ agenda that wastes trillions of dollars and contributes to instability and suffering around the world. Military spending and defense spending are not the same thing. The special interests that are bankrupting our country want the public to believe that enforcing responsible military spending somehow makes America weaker. In fact, the opposite is true. Today American troops are permanently based in over 175 countries – an outrageous waste of resources that is contributing to our economic collapse. We can no longer afford to give a blank check to the Pentagon. The President should only be authorized to initiate foreign military action following a Declaration of War by Congress in the face of an imminent and clear threat to the United States. I will only support military action that includes a clear strategy for entrance and a defined endstate that clearly constitutes victory.
Government spending will never drive sustainable economic growth. Only the private sector, and especially small businesses, can allocate capital efficiently. Unsustainable federal spending creates unmanageable debt and prevents business owners from growing and hiring, due to continued uncertainty over new taxes, higher interest rates, and the expanding role of government in the economy. America’s establishment politicians and lobbyists are spending America into ruin. We are $34 trillion in debt as a nation - a burden which endangers the financial future of our children and grandchildren. If we don't cut spending now, higher taxes and economic disaster will be in their future and ours. The Federal Reserve actively promotes runaway debt by increasing the money supply. This makes each dollar in our pocket worth less with every passing day. As the Fed’s own data proves, the dollar’s destruction began in 1971 when President Richard Nixon abandoned the gold standard and removed any semblance of fiscal discipline. For the past half century the Fed, in collusion with the Washington establishment, have printed money with unfettered abandon in order to suit their own political interests. I support a return to the gold standard. While I acknowledge the short-term economic difficulties that this policy change will incur, those challenges will pale in comparison to the ultimate reckoning that America will face if we continue on our current path to economic collapse. I also support a full audit of the Federal Reserve in order to bring transparency to the magnitude of America’s perilous fiscal situation.
I will always vote to lower taxes at all levels, and I will never vote for tax increases. Allowing taxes to rise and provide more money to the federal government would only serve to further feed the beast that is devouring this country. Individual income taxes currently provide 47% of federal revenue. I share Ron Paul’s belief that the individual income tax is unconstitutional and should be abolished. America can easily close this gap by reducing its federal bureaucracy by half.
Many elderly Americans need the safety net that Social Security provides. However the system is now America’s largest liability and is no longer solvent. Radical reform is needed. The most effective solution is a simple one. We must allow younger individuals to opt out of Social Security and use their tax savings to invest privately as they see fit. For many Americans, Social Security has proven to be a terrible investment over a multi-decade time horizon and the private sector can be a better steward of their capital. Congress should also allow taxpayers to voluntarily opt out of federal payroll taxes in exchange for never receiving Social Security benefits.
A nation with open borders is not a nation, nor does its government seek to protect the interests of its people. I support a complete closure of the southern border, zero tolerance for illegal immigration and deportation of all illegal aliens. I also recognize that America is a nation of immigrants and that American exceptionalism exists because the world’s best and brightest have always come here to seek a better life. I am a fervent supporter of legal immigration and believe that America needs to make it easier and not harder for exceptional people of all races, nationalities and ethnicities to live and work here. Finally, I support a repeal of the ‘citizenship by birthright’ policy that incentivizes millions of illegal aliens to move to America in order to have children.
The right to keep and bear arms is fundamental to a free society, and the Second Amendment is the guardian of every other right provided by our Constitution. Where law-abiding citizens are most freely allowed to defend themselves, communities are safer, while crime rises when law-abiding people's access to firearms is restricted. Gun laws only disarm those who respect the law, and turn peaceful citizens into sitting ducks for both criminals and corrupt governments to prey upon. I will never support any legislation that seeks to limit Americans’ right to bear arms.
I am strongly pro-life. Life begins at conception and the right of an innocent, unborn child to life is at the heart of the American ideals of liberty. Abortion should not be a federal matter. It is a violent act and all such acts must be dealt with at the state and local level. I oppose any use of government funds or resources to facilitate abortions, or to jeopardize the right of any woman to defend her own life and health.
America’s healthcare system is broken and in desperate need of reform. As always, the free market will provide better solutions than government. Americans, and not their government, should bear responsibility for their own healthcare decisions. Therefore I support a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, aka ‘Obamacare’. America must implement a system where patients pay cash for basic services, and carry insurance only for serious illnesses and accidents. We must enable more competition between health insurers and incentivize healthcare providers to offer transparent pricing. The pharmaceutical industry is completely out of control and must be reined in. I support a full ban on pharma advertising and removing the exemption from liability that vaccine manufacturers enjoy, even when their products harm thousands of people. |
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| —Kevin Virgil’s campaign website (2024)[3] | ||
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Kevin Virgil completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Virgil's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I have never held political office before. Everyone who decides to run for political office usually has one issue that they were passionate about. For me it was the efforts by a politically well-connected group of companies in Iowa that have been trying to use eminent domain to legally steal land from hard-working farmers and their families here in Iowa for private gain. I think this is not just unconstitutional - it is un-American.
I eventually learned that our current congressman, Randy Feenstra, had worked hard to push through billions of dollars of federal tax credits that created the incentive for these companies to steal land from the people. As I explored Feenstra's voting record I learned just how often he has sold out his constituents in an effort to vote on behalf of his large out-of-state donors. I eagerly awaited someone to announce a primary campaign against him; by late December 2023 it was apparent that no one was going to run against him and that is when I decided to announce my primary challenge.- I pledge to only support legislation that is supported by the Constitution, and places the interests of the American people above all else. Far too few of our legislators do this in practice. If a bill contains unconstitutional legislation, or subordinates the interests of my constituents to any special interests, I will not vote for it.
- I believe that the administrative state, comprised of the unelected bureaucrats in our federal government, have become America's greatest national security threat. If left unchecked, it will bankrupt our country and irreversibly change our culture. I support a 50 percent reduction to the federal government's headcount and budget, as well as the closure of every unconstitutional agency. I will never vote for legislation that increases the government's power or authority over the people.
- I pledge to make myself accessible to my constituents and to be extremely transparent about my intent to vote for - or against - pending legislation. My opponent, Randy Feenstra, has generally not made himself available to the public since his election in 2021. I intend to conduct the office very differently, and pledge to hold at least one event that will be open to the general public in every one of the 4th District's counties.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on April 29, 2024
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Kevin Virgil’s campaign website, “Issues,” accessed June 1, 2024
