Democrat Ryan Melton is running again against incumbent U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra in Iowa’s deep-red 4th Congressional District in the 2024 general election. (Photos by Robin Opsahl and Jared Strong/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Iowa’s 4th congressional district has long been a Republican stronghold in the state. Though election forecasters predict the GOP incumbent, U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, will easily hold onto the seat in the 2024 election, there’s one issue that could sway some conservative and independent voters to support his Democratic challenger Ryan Melton – the use of eminent domain in carbon capture pipeline projects.
Eminent domain and regulations on pipeline projects – like the Summit Carbon Solutions proposed plans that would connect ethanol refinery plants to underground storage in North Dakota – are largely under the purview of state lawmakers and regulators. But this project has become one of the most divisive issues in the congressional race for the 4th District, which encompasses much area in northwest Iowa where Summit pipeline would be built.
The use of eminent domain for pipeline projects has been hotly contested in Iowa and surrounding Midwestern states where carbon sequestration pipelines are planned. Governments are allowed to use eminent domain for land easements of private property in cases of public use, but there has been significant disagreement about whether the private pipeline projects fall within this domain.
Feenstra has largely kept quiet on these issues on the campaign trail. Feenstra has declined to say if he supports the use of eminent domain in pipeline projects, but has said that such projects offer a “massive opportunity” for Iowa’s ethanol industry.
Primary challenge contention spills into general election
Not all 4th District Republicans agree. Feenstra was challenged by Republican Kevin Virgil in the June Republican primary election, a candidate who accused the GOP incumbent of supporting corporate interests over Iowa farmers.
Alongside disagreeing with the lawmaker on issues like foreign aid and federal government funding, Virgil criticized Feenstra’s vote to expand carbon capture pipeline tax credits, in addition to saying that the congressman had ties to Bruce Rastetter, the agriculture mogul and Summit Agriculture Group executive involved in the pipeline project, that put him at odds with many Iowa voters’ position on pipelines.
Despite these criticisms, Feenstra handily won the Republican nomination in the June 4 primary with 60.3% of the vote to Virgil’s 39.7%. While Feenstra said in a statement that the primary results are a “clear message” that 4th District voters approve of his tenure in Congress, Virgil argued that the results showed there was a significant number of Republicans who had issues with Feenstra’s decisions.
Virgil went on to endorse Melton in late August – calling for 4th District residents to have a “split ticket” vote supporting former President Donald Trump for the White House and Melton for Congress.
“Iowa has much to be proud of, and there are many Republican politicians who are working hard to improve their constituents’ lives,” Virgil wrote in a lengthy post on X. “… The problem is that our voter base has become far too tolerant of BAD leaders, all in the sake of party loyalty.”
Iowa Republican leaders decried the endorsement, with Gov. Kim Reynolds calling Virgil a “sore loser.” Feenstra’s campaign called his Virgil a “New York liberal” and criticized Melton as “anti-Trump.”
“Virgil is an east coast liberal and chose to endorse a Democrat that would block the Trump agenda at every opportunity,” Feenstra’s campaign said in a statement. “This November, Iowans will reject the radical Virgil-Melton agenda and elect conservative champion Randy Feenstra.”
Melton welcomed his support, saying that while he and Virgil disagreed on many issues, that Virgil’s endorsement showed “there is a path forward in this district.” He said Virgil has spoken to the reason why many Republican voters feel abandoned by GOP leadership in Iowa, and are seriously considering an alternative candidate in the 4th District.
“They have been sold out to Bruce Rastetter, they have been sold out to disproportionate and excessive corporate power,” Melton said on an Oct. 4 episode of Iowa Press. “And I have talked to so many Republicans, I have been in plenty of rooms full of Republicans on the campaign trail who are ready to make a protest vote.”
Feenstra calls for conservative voters to support Trump, down-ballot GOP candidates
While some Republicans may be considering a split-ticket approach to the Nov. 5 election, Feenstra and Republicans are expecting that many voters will stick with uniform support for a party. In the 4th District, where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats 3-to-1, those voters are expected to heavily lean toward supporting Feenstra’s reelection bid.
In an effort to motivate northwest Iowa voters, Feenstra has participated in many local party events aimed at getting out the vote for former President Donald Trump, who will face Vice President Kamala Harris in the upcoming presidential election. Feenstra has posted pictures on social media of signs that feature his name and “build the wall” – a slogan associated with Trump’s presidential campaigns and U.S. Southern border policy.
Feenstra urged voters at a September event alongside other Republican candidates to stop the “dangerous liberal shift” in national politics, supporting Trump as well as other GOP candidates running to combat Biden-Harris policies on issues like immigration and inflation.
Feenstra has named immigration as his top issue headed into the 2024 election. But Melton has said he believes Trump and Republicans’ comments on immigration – like Trump’s 2023 statement that immigrants were “poisoning the blood” of the country – as well as policy positions do not reflect the real, important role immigrants play in Iowa communities.
“Data point after data point after data point shows that regardless of, or despite what Donald Trump says, where he depicts immigrants as criminals, as violent, the data shows that’s not true,” Melton said. “And the data shows that both documented and undocumented immigrants to this country commit crime at much lower rates than native born citizens do. So, let’s get that out there. I’m not going to be involved in the fear-mongering that has dominated that space.”
Melton also said he would not support extending the Trump tax cuts, saying that the measure has disproportionately helped wealthy Americans and corporations at the expense of low- and middle-class Americans.
Though Melton has many disagreements with Trump – and with many of the GOP policies likely supported by conservative voters in the 4th District – he said in September that he believes his campaign is in a better position in 2024 than the previous election.
Melton said he has spoken to many 4th District Republicans who still identify as GOP members that plan to support him in the Nov. 5 election.
“The conversation is pretty much, ‘Hey, you don’t have to change your political affiliation to vote Democrat,’” Melton said. “But if you are telling me that you’re so dissatisfied and disgruntled with Republican Party leadership when it comes to carbon capture pipelines and selling them out to corporate power, when it comes to the privatization of our public education, when it comes to the cancer crisis and the lack of any care shown by Republican elected officials on that front – it’s time for you guys in the Republican Party, the rank and file folks, to make the stand.”