Iowa's 4th Congressional District election, 2026

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Iowa's 4th Congressional District
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: March 13, 2026
Primary: June 2, 2026 General: November 3, 2026
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voting in Iowa
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Republican DDHQ and The Hill: Pending Inside Elections: Solid Republican Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
See also
Iowa's 4th Congressional District U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th Iowa elections, 2026 U.S. Congress elections, 2026 U.S. Senate elections, 2026 U.S. House elections, 2026 Alabama U.S. House racesAlaska U.S. House raceArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House raceFlorida U.S. House racesGeorgia U.S. House racesHawaii U.S. House racesIdaho U.S. House racesIllinois U.S. House racesIndiana U.S. House racesIowa U.S. House racesKansas U.S. House racesKentucky U.S. House racesLouisiana U.S. House racesMaine U.S. House racesMaryland U.S. House racesMassachusetts U.S. House racesMichigan U.S. House racesMinnesota U.S. House racesMississippi U.S. House racesMissouri U.S. House racesMontana U.S. House racesNebraska U.S. House racesNevada U.S. House racesNew Hampshire U.S. House racesNew Jersey U.S. House racesNew Mexico U.S. House racesNew York U.S. House racesNorth Carolina U.S. House racesNorth Dakota U.S. House raceOhio U.S. House racesOklahoma U.S. House racesOregon U.S. House racesPennsylvania U.S. House racesRhode Island U.S. House racesSouth Carolina U.S. House racesSouth Dakota U.S. House raceTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House raceVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House raceSubmit

All U.S. House districts, including the 4th Congressional District of Iowa, are holding elections in 2026. The general election is November 3, 2026. To learn more about other elections on the ballot, click here.

Candidates and election results

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

• Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
• Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for U.S. House Iowa District 4

The following candidates are running in the general election for U.S. House Iowa District 4 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Randy Feenstra (R)
	Submit photo	Dave Dawson (D)
	Submit photo	Stephanie Steiner (D)
		Ashley WolfTornabane (D)
	Submit photo	Kyle Larsen (R)
	Submit photo	Chris McGowan (R)
	Submit photo	Ryan Rhodes (R)
	Submit photo	Christian Schlaefer (R)
		Matt Windschitl (R)

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= 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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Ryan Melton (D)

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Dave Dawson

Do you have a photo that could go here? Click here to submit it for this profile!

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography:  "I am a public servant, a proven leader, a lifelong Iowan, a prosecutor, and former state legislator. I am running to put people before politics and fight for Iowa families. I grew up in Washta and graduated from the last class of Willow Community High School. During summers while in college, I worked at my parents’ agricultural business. I earned my undergraduate degree at Iowa State University. After receiving my law degree, I worked at a law firm in Chicago for three years. I current live in Lawton and have lived in Woodbury County for the past twenty-three years. I have been a public servant for the citizens of Iowa for 18 years, working as prosecutor for Woodbury County, where I specialize in cases involving child abuse. I have been an active member of my community. I was a former coach at Sioux City West High School and previously served as a church elder. I have been a union member with AFSCME for over twenty years. I have served on several non-profit boards, including serving as legal counsel for the Community Action Agency of Siouxland, which oversees local programs for Head Start and Early Head Start. In 2012 and 2014, I was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives, where I earned a reputation as someone who worked across party lines to achieve positive outcomes for my constituents. In 2016, I received the Gold Star Award from Iowa State Sheriffs’ and Deputies’ Association for leadership in the legislature on law enforcement and public safety issues."

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Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

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I expand health care options and research. I will fight to lower prescription drug costs, expand rural healthcare access, and invest in medical research that saves lives. I will work to keep rural hospitals and nursing homes open and ensure mental health services are available close to home.

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I will invest in rural communities. I will work to expand broadband, repair roads and bridges, strengthen family farms, make housing more affordable, and support small businesses, all to keep our communities strong. When farmers do well, the whole community does well.

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I will work to raise incomes and increase competition. I will push for policies that raise wages, support working families, and crack down on corporate monopolies that hurt farmers and small business owners. I believe in an economy where hard work pays off.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Iowa

Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Survey responses from candidates in this race

Click on a candidate's name to visit their Ballotpedia page.

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.

Expand all | Collapse all

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Dave Dawson (D)

I expand health care options and research. I will fight to lower prescription drug costs, expand rural healthcare access, and invest in medical research that saves lives. I will work to keep rural hospitals and nursing homes open and ensure mental health services are available close to home.

I will invest in rural communities. I will work to expand broadband, repair roads and bridges, strengthen family farms, make housing more affordable, and support small businesses, all to keep our communities strong. When farmers do well, the whole community does well.

I will work to raise incomes and increase competition. I will push for policies that raise wages, support working families, and crack down on corporate monopolies that hurt farmers and small business owners. I believe in an economy where hard work pays off.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Dave Dawson (D)

I believe the Constitution should be a safeguard, not a political weapon. I will oppose attempts to restrict personal freedoms, weaken voting rights, undermine equal protection, or interfere with individual property rights. I will work to ensure that the government protects individual liberty, stays transparent, and remains accountable to the people, not to special interests or partisan agendas.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Dave Dawson (D)

Your next U.S. Representative should care more about people than party politics, should work for constituents rather than corporate interests, and should fight for the needs of the district and not donors.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

Dave Dawson (D)

The first historical event that happened in my lifetime that I can remember is the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan. I was 7 years old and in the first grade. It was very impactful as I could not have imagined why anyone would want to shoot our president.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?

Dave Dawson (D)

I believe having prior legislative experience at the State level is a huge advantage for anyone seeking to become a U.S. Representative.

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Dave Dawson (D)

The ever-increasing national debt is a major challenge that needs to be directly addressed by Congress. Any federal spending needs to be paid for without adding to the debt.

What are your thoughts on term limits?

Dave Dawson (D)

The Constitution has been amended to limit the terms of the U.S. President and should be similarly amended to impose term limits on U.S. House and Senate members.

Is there a particular representative, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

Dave Dawson (D)

I believe U.S. Representative Berkley Bedell is someone to aspire to be like. He was known for his support of representative democracy and his populist style. For example, he would hold town halls and let constituents vote on motions to decide what he would do in Congress on their behalf and these meetings helped Bedell understand the problems of his constituents.

The Constitution says that all bills for raising revenue must originate in the House. What role would this power play in your priorities if elected?

Dave Dawson (D)

Any bill to raise revenue should be carefully considered before passed in the U.S. House. The impact of any tax bill on individual citizens should be fully understood before passed into law.

You can ask candidates in this race to fill out the survey by clicking their names below:

• Kyle Larsen
• Matt Windschitl
• Randy Feenstra
• Ryan Rhodes
• Stephanie Steiner

Campaign finance

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Randy Feenstra	Republican Party	$1,092,233	$778,799	$1,483,828	As of June 30, 2025
Dave Dawson	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Stephanie Steiner	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Ashley WolfTornabane	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Kyle Larsen	Republican Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Chris McGowan	Republican Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Ryan Rhodes	Republican Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Christian Schlaefer	Republican Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Matt Windschitl	Republican Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). * According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." ** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election. *** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

General election race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

• Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
• Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
• Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.
• Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.

Race ratings: Iowa's 4th Congressional District election, 2026
Race tracker	Race ratings
	9/9/2025	9/2/2025	8/26/2025	8/19/2025
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Decision Desk HQ and The Hill	Pending	Pending	Pending	Pending
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican
Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week.

Ballot access

This section will contain information on ballot access related to this state's elections when it is available.

District history

The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2020.

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

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 373,824
= 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.

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

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

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

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	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.

2022

See also: Iowa's 4th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House Iowa District 4

Incumbent Randy Feenstra defeated Ryan Melton and Bryan Holder in the general election for U.S. House Iowa District 4 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Randy Feenstra (R)	67.3	186,467
		Ryan Melton (D)	30.4	84,230
		Bryan Holder (Liberty Caucus)	2.2	6,035
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	276

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 277,008
= 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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Ryan O'Leary (Independent)
• Kyle Grossman (L)

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 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ryan Melton	99.7	20,794
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3	69

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 20,863
= 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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Iowa District 4

Incumbent Randy Feenstra advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Iowa District 4 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Randy Feenstra	98.9	51,271
		Other/Write-in votes	1.1	596

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 51,867
= 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.

2020

See also: Iowa's 4th Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House Iowa District 4

Randy Feenstra defeated J.D. Scholten in the general election for U.S. House Iowa District 4 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Randy Feenstra (R)	62.0	237,369
		J.D. Scholten (D)	37.8	144,761
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2	892

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 383,022
= 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.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Iowa District 4

J.D. Scholten advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Iowa District 4 on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		J.D. Scholten	99.6	46,370
		Other/Write-in votes	0.4	166

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 46,536
= 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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Iowa District 4

Randy Feenstra defeated incumbent Steve King, Jeremy Taylor, Bret Richards, and Steve Reeder in the Republican primary for U.S. House Iowa District 4 on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Randy Feenstra	45.5	37,329
		Steve King	35.8	29,366
		Jeremy Taylor	7.8	6,418
		Bret Richards	7.5	6,140
		Steve Reeder	3.1	2,528
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2	176

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 81,957
= 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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Aaron Thomas Krull (R)

District analysis

This section will contain facts and figures related to this district's elections when those are available.

See also

Iowa	2026 primaries	2026 U.S. Congress elections
Iowa congressional delegation Voting in Iowa Iowa elections: 2026 • 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018	Democratic primary battlegrounds Republican primary battlegrounds U.S. Senate Democratic primaries U.S. Senate Republican primaries U.S. House Democratic primaries U.S. House Republican primaries	U.S. Congress elections U.S. Senate elections U.S. House elections Special elections Ballot access

External links

• Search Google News for this topic

Footnotes

[show]

Iowa's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Joni Ernst (R)

Chuck Grassley (R)

Representatives

District 1

Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R)

District 2

Ashley Hinson (R)

District 3

Zach Nunn (R)

District 4

Randy Feenstra (R)

Republican Party (6)

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