(Photo courtesy of Ryan Rhodes' campaign)
While Ryan Rhodes has played a prominent role in Iowa Republican politics in the past decade — serving as state director for Dr. Ben Carson’s presidential campaign and founding the Iowa Tea Party — he has not previously held office. But now, Rhodes is a candidate for Congress in 2026, saying he wants continue the work he has done in Iowa and support President Trump’s agenda by serving as the 4th District representative.
Rhodes announced his campaign earlier in July, saying he is running because the 4th District race “isn’t about left versus right—it’s about two very different visions for the future of conservatism.” His campaign slogan is “Make America Iowa,” saying he wants to bring GOP Iowans’ values to Congress.
Iowa’s 4th Congressional District has historically been a conservative stronghold that has been represented by U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra since his victory against former U.S. Rep. Steve King in the 2020 primary election. But heading into 2026, Feenstra has launched an “exploratory committee” considering a run for Iowa governor, meaning the congressional race likely will be an open contest.
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Several Republicans have entered the primary race, including Iowa House Minority Leader Matt Windschitl, Siouxland Chamber of Commerce President Chris McGowan and Kyle Larsen, a farmer and land appraiser. But in an interview Wednesday, Rhodes said he believed he was the best candidate for the job as someone with both a “deep network” in Iowa politics and as a person who has embodied many of the conservative values he said Iowans in the district share.
Alongside founding the Iowa Tea Party, he worked on Carson’s and Minnesota U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s caucus campaigns. He also worked with the Trump administration during his first term in office.
“(I’ve) stood the test of time in over 15 years plus, been fighting those battles, from the Tea Party to now to deciding to run for Congress,” Rhodes said. “And the administration also is going to need more stronger voices to get parts of the agenda done, especially to help cut the budget and to fight back against a lot of what’s going on.”
The federal funding cuts made through the U.S. DOGE service, formerly headed by Elon Musk, as well as through measures like the budget reconciliation bill are the type of government spending decisions he has supported for years through the Tea Party and conservative organizing for candidates, Rhodes said.
“It’s almost like the Tea Party joined MAGA,” Rhodes said.
In addition to supporting cutting federal spending, he said he supports defending gun rights through the Second Amendment, preventing transgender women from competing in women’s sports and supporting Iowa’s agriculture economy through measures like the “Save our Bacon” act, introduced by Iowa’s all-Republican delegation, that would nullify a California animal welfare law.
He also said he supports more stringent immigration policies, pointing to immigrant mayoral candidates Omar Fateh, the Minnesota state senator running to become mayor of Minneapolis, and Zohran Mamdani, the New York state representative running for New York City mayor. Fateh is the child of Somali immigrants born in Washington, D.C., and Mamdani is an Indian American born in Uganda; both identify as democratic socialists.
“We’ve brought in a lot of people who don’t share the same values as we do, like Omar Fateh or Mamdani,” Rhodes said. “I don’t believe that our country can survive that onslaught of opposing values here, and I think Iowa is a place to be able to … defend those values as well.”
In addition to working in politics, Rhodes said he has also worked in agriculture in addition to having served as CEO of Parler, a conservative social media platform, before stepping down earlier in 2025.
“I’ve done a lot of work in a lot of different areas, so I have a broad depth of understanding of issues and and a lot of what’s going on right now,” Rhodes said.
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