All Iowa races
2026 race

IA-04 — U.S. House

8 active candidates on file with the FEC. Incumbent: Randall Feenstra.

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See where these candidates stand — and who's funding them.

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Democratic primary · Tuesday, June 2, 2026
Called by audit: web-verified
Dave DawsonWon39.1%
  • DStephanie SteinerDefeated30.5%
  • DAshley WolftornabaneDefeated30.4%
Republican primary · Tuesday, June 2, 2026
Called by audit: web-verified
Chris McGowanWon
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 day
135days
Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Make sure you can vote
Disclosed money in race
$2.4M
Candidate + outside spending. See finance breakdown below.
Incumbent

Currently in office

Challengers

Sorted by fundraising

Chris McGowan

R
ChallengerFEC H6IA04167

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Raised this cycle$627K
Cash on hand: $379K

Dave Dawson

D
ChallengerFEC H6IA04217

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Raised this cycle$90K
Cash on hand: $44K
5 defeated candidates — show

Ryan Rhodes

RDefeated
ChallengerFEC H6IA04209

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Raised this cycle$420K
Cash on hand: $31K

Matt Windschitl

RDefeated
ChallengerFEC H6IA04175

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Raised this cycle$66K
Cash on hand: $40K

Douglas Jensen

RDefeated
ChallengerFEC H6IA04241

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Raised this cycle$30K
Cash on hand: $956

Ryan Michael Appleton Melton

DDefeated
ChallengerFEC H2IA04141

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Raised this cycle$14K
Cash on hand: $4K

Christian Schlaefer

RDefeated
ChallengerFEC H6IA04225

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Raised this cycle$8K
Cash on hand: $2K
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 McGowanlimited coverage
No tracked coverage in the last 90 days yet.
Dave Dawsonlimited coverage
No tracked coverage in the last 90 days yet.
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.

Total disclosed
$2.4M
Candidate fundraising + independent expenditures (FEC).
Candidate-direct (Schedule A)
$2.4M
Raised by candidate committees themselves.
Outside spending (Schedule E)
$0
No outside spending reported yet.
CandidateRaised directlyOutside forOutside againstNet in corner
Chris McGowan(R)
$627K$627K
Dave Dawson(D)
$90K$90K
6 defeated candidates — show finances
CandidateRaised directlyOutside forOutside againstNet in corner
Randall Feenstra(R)incumbentdefeated
$1.1M$1.1M
Ryan Rhodes(R)defeated
$420K$420K
Matt Windschitl(R)defeated
$66K$66K
Douglas Jensen(R)defeated
$30K$30K
Ryan Michael Appleton Melton(D)defeated
$14K$14K
Christian Schlaefer(R)defeated
$8K$8K
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)47% in-state · $602K itemized
$286K in-state$317K out-of-state
1 defeated candidate — show
Randall Feenstra(R)defeated46% in-state · $378K itemized
$173K in-state$205K 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.

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.