Randy Feenstra
RDefeatedIncumbentFEC H0IA04145
Sign in + take the quiz to see alignment.
Raised this cycle$1.1M
Cash on hand: $0
2026 race
IA-04 — U.S. House
2 candidates on the November ballot. Incumbent: Randy Feenstra.
Read the record. Not the rhetoric.
See where these candidates stand — and who's funding them.
DeepSyte tracks the money and the record in every race against the issues you care about — not party, not press releases. Take the 2-minute values quiz to see your alignment.
How we got here · 2 earlier contests
Currently held by
Randy Feenstra (R) — not seeking re-election in 2026. They've publicly announced their retirement; their committee is still on the FEC's 2026 roster for routine compliance, but this is effectively an open seat.
Election held
Counting
Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Results appear here once a race is called and verified. Official returns from the Iowa Secretary of State.
Make sure you can vote
Disclosed money in race
$3.0M
Candidate + outside spending. See finance breakdown below.
Incumbent
Currently in office
Challengers
Sorted by fundraising
Chris McGowan
RChallengerFEC H6IA04167
Sign in + take the quiz to see alignment.
Raised this cycle$863K
Cash on hand: $444K
Dave Dawson
DChallengerFEC H6IA04217
Sign in + take the quiz to see alignment.
Raised this cycle$259K
Cash on hand: $42K
7 defeated candidates — show
Ryan Rhodes
RDefeatedChallengerFEC H6IA04209
Sign in + take the quiz to see alignment.
Raised this cycle$444K
Cash on hand: −$4K
Matt Windschitl
RDefeatedChallengerFEC H6IA04175
Sign in + take the quiz to see alignment.
Raised this cycle$66K
Cash on hand: $0
Douglas Jensen
RDefeatedChallengerFEC H6IA04241
Sign in + take the quiz to see alignment.
Raised this cycle$30K
Cash on hand: $956
Ashley Wolftornabane
DDefeatedChallengerFEC H6IA04159
Sign in + take the quiz to see alignment.
Raised this cycle$25K
Cash on hand: $622
Ryan Michael Appleton Melton
DDefeatedChallengerFEC H2IA04141
Sign in + take the quiz to see alignment.
Raised this cycle$14K
Cash on hand: $0
Christian Schlaefer
RDefeatedChallengerFEC H6IA04225
Sign in + take the quiz to see alignment.
Raised this cycle$8K
Cash on hand: $2K
Stephanie Steiner
DDefeatedChallengerFEC H6IA04183
Sign in + take the quiz to see alignment.
Raised this cycle$0
Cash on hand: $0
Local signal
Early read on IA-04 — U.S. House
A directional read on where this seat is trending, from the signals we have so far. This is an early scaffold — more inputs light up as coverage and constituent activity accrue.
Coverage tone · the matchup
Recent news coverage of the nominees heading to the general election.
Chris McGowanmixed
0 pos1 neutral0 neg1 articles
Dave Dawsonlimited coverage
No coverage in our tracked outlets in the last 90 days.
A media signal, not a poll of the district.
Constituent stakes
No one here has staked a position on a tracked vote yet. As neighbors weigh in on /pressure campaigns, the district's lean will show up here.
Money in the race
Finance breakdown
Disclosed funding shaping this race — both the money candidates raise themselves and the outside spending dropped by independent groups. Issue-ad spending by 501(c)(4) groups is excluded; the FEC doesn't require disclosure of it. See the note below for details.
Candidate fundraising: FEC reports through October 14, 2026 · 2025–26 cycle
Total disclosed
$3.0M
Candidate fundraising + independent expenditures (FEC).
Candidate-direct (Schedule A)
$2.8M
Raised by candidate committees themselves.
Outside spending (Schedule E)
$173K
$173K for · $0 against
| Candidate | Raised directly | Outside for | Outside against | Net in corner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Chris McGowan(R) + AMERICAN MISSION $104K + CONSERVATIVES FOR AMERICAN EXCELLENCE INC. $60K + IOWA ALWAYS PAC $9K | $863K | $173K | — | $1.0M |
Dave Dawson(D) | $259K | — | — | $259K |
8 defeated candidates — show finances
| Candidate | Raised directly | Outside for | Outside against | Net in corner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Randy Feenstra(R)incumbentdefeated | $1.1M | — | — | $1.1M |
Ryan Rhodes(R)defeated | $444K | — | — | $444K |
Matt Windschitl(R)defeated | $66K | — | — | $66K |
Douglas Jensen(R)defeated | $30K | — | — | $30K |
Ashley Wolftornabane(D)defeated | $25K | — | — | $25K |
Ryan Michael Appleton Melton(D)defeated | $14K | — | — | $14K |
Christian Schlaefer(R)defeated | $8K | — | — | $8K |
Stephanie Steiner(D)defeated | $0 | — | — | $0 |
Where the money comes from
In-state vs out-of-state
Share of each candidate's itemized individual contributions from donors inside IA versus the rest of the country. Excludes sub-$200 unitemized donations (no geography on file) and PAC money — see note below.
Chris McGowan(R)46% in-state · $634K itemized
$289K in-state$345K out-of-state
Dave Dawson(D)94% in-state · $82K itemized
$77K in-state$5K out-of-state
7 defeated candidates — show
Randy Feenstra(R)defeated46% in-state · $378K itemized
$173K in-state$205K out-of-state
Ryan Rhodes(R)defeated7% in-state · $145K itemized
$11K in-state$134K out-of-state
Matt Windschitl(R)defeated91% in-state · $57K itemized
$52K in-state$5K out-of-state
Douglas Jensen(R)defeated79% in-state · $9K itemized
$7K in-state$2K out-of-state
Ashley Wolftornabane(D)defeated85% in-state · $10K itemized
$9K in-state$1K out-of-state
Ryan Michael Appleton Melton(D)defeated97% in-state · $8K itemized
$8K in-state$250 out-of-state
Christian Schlaefer(R)defeated0% in-state · $1K itemized
$0 in-state$1K out-of-state
What's counted, what isn't
Candidate-direct is each campaign's reported receipts on FEC Schedule A — individual contributions plus PAC contributions to the candidate's own committee — through the most recent filing.
Outside spending is independent expenditures on FEC Schedule E: money spent by PACs, super PACs, and party committees for or against a candidate, without legal coordination with the campaign. The committees listed under each candidate are the largest disclosed spenders on either side.
In-state vs out-of-state covers only itemized individual contributions — donations over $200, which are the only ones that carry a contributor address at the FEC. Sub-$200 unitemized donations (often a large share for grassroots campaigns) have no geography on file and are excluded, as is PAC money. So the percentages describe where a candidate's itemized individual money comes from, not where every dollar raised comes from.
Not counted: 501(c)(4) "social welfare" organizations run issue ads that frequently mention candidates by name but aren't classified as express advocacy under FEC rules — they file no Schedule E and don't appear in this breakdown. Press reporting on a race may cite figures that include this dark-money spending; ours doesn't.
Recent coverage
In the news
About this race page
Candidate roster is sourced from the FEC's active-candidate list for the 2026 cycle. Fundraising totals reflect committee filings through the last reporting period.
Alignment % compares the candidate's extracted policy positions against your quiz answers. Positions are pulled from the candidate's campaign issues page by AI; we save the source quote for each position so you can verify the extraction. Candidates without a campaign issues page show position data pending — we're working through the roster and re-checking stale extractions every 90 days.
News coverage is from the GDELT 2.0 global news feed, filtered to a curated list of national, political, and regional outlets.