Ryan Rhodes said he brings vast experience to the race for Iowa’s 4th Congressional District. The Ames businessman stepped down from his position as CEO of the conservative social media site Parler in January to concentrate on his campaign. He still serves on the board.
“I've been in the political fight for years — passionate about fixing the country, because I think there's a big onslaught right now of a massive shift to the left, and I don't think that that's good for the country,” Rhodes said.
Rhodes believes lawmakers who hold what he calls radical ideologies need to be stopped.
“We have people out there trying to allow men in women's sports. They're trying to allow gender surgeries for minors. I think teaching children hate through the [critical race theory] is there,” Rhodes said. “And I think the immigration system is bringing all of these people who clearly don't like America to our country.”
His first venture as a candidate started as an Iowa State University student in 2008, when he unsuccessfully ran for the Iowa House. The district favored Democrats and incumbent Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell.
“I was definitely a novice when I jumped in the race and had no idea that it was something like a 28+ Democratic district,” Rhodes said. “I was able to reach out directly to voters, to students. We gave it a good run and I’m proud of what we did.”
The 4th Congressional District highly favors Republicans. They outnumber registered Democrats by a margin of more than 2:1 in the 36-county district, which includes Sioux City, Council Bluffs, Ames and Marshalltown.
Rhodes eventually founded the Iowa Tea Party and worked on presidential campaigns for Ben Carson and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann. During the first Trump Administration, Rhodes set up events and rallies.
“I would be proud to have his [Trump’s] endorsement — but I’m going to have to do a lot of work to earn it,” Rhodes said. “I’m a proud MAGA Republican and I think we’ve got to go and give ammo to really help Trump and have his back, especially when we look at a broken immigration system.”
When it comes to agriculture, Rhodes called California’s Proposition 12 a significant problem for Iowa pork producers. The law requires requires uncooked cuts of pork sold in California to come from breeding pigs with at least 24 square feet of floor space.
“It’s the same thing that they did with [electric vehicles] to try to force the standard by passing a law in California to try to force these standards on other states," he said. "To address issues like that, we're actually going to propose legislation at the federal level that counters certain actions California takes, so that we can say, 'No, you can't. You're going to keep that stuff there. You don't get to force this. You cannot make this mandate.'”
Other candidates who want to serve in Congress
With three other Republicans in the race, Rhodes called himself the true conservative and a fighter.
“I’ve really been a champion on issues, whether it be on immigration, pro-life, the Tea Party platform,” Rhodes said. “People are going to hear from me and it’s going to be a strong message. We're not going to have any pale pastels or anything like that. We are going to be really full-throated talking about fixing this country and that it's going to — it's going to start here in Iowa, so that we can take that strong voice out there.”
The other GOP contenders include Chris McGowan with the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce, Iowa House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl and farmer Kyle Larsen of Humboldt.
Three-term incumbent Rep. Randy Feenstra started gathering donations and endorsements for a run for governor after current Gov. Kim Reynolds decided not to seek reelection. But Feenstra has stopped short of making an official announcement.
This week, Feenstra launched a new profile on Truth Social that stated, “Republican for Governor of Iowa.”
There are two Democrats in the race for the 4th District seat, stay-at-home mom Ashley WolfTornabane of Storm Lake and Stephanie Steiner of rural Sutherland.
