Rep. Eddie Andrews, a Republican running for governor, will remain on the primary election ballot while three candidates for other offices were removed after a state panel reviewed challenges to their nominating petitions.
Candidates are required to submit paperwork including a certain number of signatures from Iowa voters to get on the ballot, depending on the office they are running for. Iowans can then file objections if they believe candidates failed to meet the requirements.
The state objection panel voted unanimously Wednesday to accept Andrews’ nominating petitions after it found he submitted just enough valid signatures to qualify.
“I am extremely ecstatic – not just for our candidacy, but for the state of Iowa and the voters who now get a chance to have their voice heard on June 2,” Andrews said.
State law requires candidates for governor to submit at least 3,500 signatures, including 100 signatures from at least 19 counties.
David Bush, who filed the challenge to Andrews, claimed seven counties submitted by Andrews did not meet the 100-signature threshold because of duplicate signatures, invalid addresses, signatures from voters who live outside of the designated county and paperwork discrepancies.
The objection panel ultimately found Andrews satisfied the 19-county requirement, with 101 signatures in the 19th county. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, Attorney General Brenna Bird and Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig all voted to reject Bush’s challenge.
Andrews said several pages of signatures went missing from his campaign and suggested they may have been stolen. He said his volunteers had to scramble to get more signatures, which he submitted at the last minute as the filing period was closing.
Four other Republicans are running for governor: U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, businessman and farmer Zach Lahn, former state Rep. Brad Sherman and former Iowa Department of Administrative Services Director Adam Steen. State Auditor Rob Sand is the only Democrat running for governor.
Andrews accused Steen’s campaign of contacting him three times and telling him they would challenge his place on the ballot if he did not drop out and support Steen.
Steen’s campaign said Andrews’ claims are false.
“Neither Adam nor anyone affiliated with the campaign threatened Eddie Andrews,” a statement from Steen’s campaign reads. “We did have conversations with him inviting him to join Team Steen because we respect Eddie, believe he has a lot to offer, and know he would be a valuable part of a Steen administration but at no point was it presented as a threat.”
Steen’s campaign said Bush is a Steen supporter who independently made the decision to file a challenge.
According to the secretary of state's office, Rob Peters and Rebekah Oleson were the only two people involved in requesting copies of Andrews' ballot paperwork. Peters is Steen's campaign manager, and Oleson is Steen's communications director.
At the hearing, Bush said he was motivated by concerns about election integrity, and he has nothing against Andrews. Bush said his son told him there might be issues with Andrews’ candidate paperwork, and he discovered that information would be public.
“What I saw from the public documents concerned me,” he said. “And I knew enough about this race to understand that some had a vested interest in seeing as many Republican candidates as possible and would never question anything, which is a problem in and of itself. So it was going to have to be me.”
Bush said the fact that Andrews’ hearing continued into a second day with state officials recounting signatures multiple times proved that his suspicions were valid.
Three candidates removed from primary ballot
On Tuesday, the state objection panel voted to remove three candidates from the ballot for not submitting enough valid voter signatures.
Xavier Carrigan will not be on the Democratic primary ballot in Iowa’s Third Congressional District, leaving Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott without a primary opponent. She will face Republican U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn in the general election.
Carrigan said he collected voter signatures with volunteers and very little money.
“I am here to show the American people in this country that it can be done, and all it would’ve taken is a little more effort on my part,” he said.
Two Statehouse candidates were also kicked off the ballot for insufficient signatures: House District 75 Democratic candidate Jared Gadson of Cedar Falls, and Senate District 21 Republican candidate Eric Pearson of Ankeny.
“When you’re doing nomination papers, a lot of hard work goes into it,” Secretary of State Paul Pate said. “You’ve got a lot of volunteers who are out there doing things to help you get on the ballot. But you have to do your due diligence, too.”
Sen. Mike Bousselot, R-Ankeny, who is running for Senate District 23, also had his place on the primary ballot challenged. He showed the objection panel evidence that some of the challenged signatures were valid, and the panel voted to reject the challenge, allowing Bousselot to stay on the ballot.
This story was updated March 25, 2026 at 4:51 p.m. to include information from the secretary of state's office about who requested documents related to Andrews' ballot paperwork.
