Ryan Rhodes
Ryan Rhodes (Republican Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Iowa's 4th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the Republican primary scheduled on June 2, 2026.[source]
Biography
According to the National Journal, Rhodes first became interested in politics in 2008 as a student at Iowa State University.[1]
In 2010, he managed the primary campaign for Dave Funk, who was running for the Republican nomination to represent Iowa's 3rd Congressional District in the U.S. House.[2]
In August 2011, Rhodes made national news when he confronted President Barack Obama (D) about Vice President Joe Biden's comparison of tea partyers to "terrorists."[3]
In December 2011, Rhodes joined the primary campaign of Michele Bachmann as the tea party outreach director. Of Bachmann's candidacy, Rhodes said: "As someone who has worked to advance a set of constitutional principles, I believe Congresswoman Bachmann represents the solution as someone who has stood with us in the nation's capitol and will continue to fight for those principles of limited constitutional government in the White House."[4]
Rhodes is the founder of the Iowa Tea Party. In 2016, he worked as the Iowa state director for Ben Carson's presidential campaign.[5] Rhodes formerly worked on Iowa tea party outreach for Michele Bachmann's 2012 presidential race.[5] As a student in 2008, Rhodes ran against Democratic incumbent Beth Wessel-Kroeschell to represent Iowa's 45th District in the state House of Representatives.[1]
Ben Carson presidential campaign, 2016
Rhodes joined Carson's campaign in January 2015 as the exploratory committee's connection to tea party activists. Of Carson's candidacy, Rhodes said: "He is the embodiment of the American dream and there's no better person to advocate restoring the American dream than Ben."[5] Carson received nine percent of the votes in Iowa.[6]
On March 2, 2016, after receiving the lowest total votes during the elections on Super Tuesday, Carson announced he saw no "political path forward" for his presidential campaign.[7] On March 4, Carson announced that he had joined the nonprofit organization My Faith Votes as national chairman.[8] He officially suspended his campaign the same day.[9]
Elections
2026
See also: Iowa's 4th Congressional District election, 2026
General election
The primary will occur on June 2, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. Additional general election candidates will be added here following the primary.
General election for U.S. House Iowa District 4
Jermaine Decker is running in the general election for U.S. House Iowa District 4 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
| Jermaine Decker (Independent) | ||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Iowa District 4
Dave Dawson, Stephanie Steiner, and Ashley WolfTornabane are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Iowa District 4 on June 2, 2026.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Ryan Melton (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Iowa District 4
Incumbent Randy Feenstra, Chris McGowan, Ryan Rhodes, Christian Schlaefer, and Matt Windschitl are running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Iowa District 4 on June 2, 2026.
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| = 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
- Kyle Larsen (R)
- Douglas Jensen (R)
Endorsements
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Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
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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
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 National Journal, "Iowa Tea Party's Unlikely Kingmaker," March 13, 2011
- ↑ The Gazette (Iowa), "Tea Party chair to lead Funk congressional campaign," accessed May 20, 2015
- ↑ Huffington Post, "Obama, Tea Party Supporters Get In Heated Exchange In Iowa," August 16, 2011
- ↑ University of California Santa Barbara American Presidency Project, "Press Release - Bachmann for President Names Ryan Rhodes as Tea Party Outreach Director," accessed May 20, 2015
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 CNN, "Carson camp brings on former Bachmann staffer in Iowa," January 16, 2015
- ↑ Des Moines Register, "Iowa caucus Results," accessed March 4, 2016
- ↑ Politico, "Ben Carson to end presidential campaign," March 2, 2016
- ↑ CNN, "Ben Carson to lead Christian voter group," March 4, 2016
- ↑ NBC News, "Ben Carson Suspends 2016 Campaign at CPAC," March 4, 2016
