(Radio Iowa) – The first forum featuring the five Republican candidates running in Iowa’s Fourth Congressional District was held last (Monday) night in Treynor. The Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition hosted the event and will run get-out-the-vote efforts next fall for Iowa Republican candidates. Douglas Jensen, a veteran of the Air Force from Silver City, told the crowd he’s running because Washington is broken.

“Congress is the most dysfunctional branch of government. It can’t do it’s constitutional job. It can’t pass a budget. It can’t even keep the government open,” Jensen said. “It takes strong leadership to fix a problem like that.” Candidate Ryan Rhodes, the founder of the Iowa Tea Party, recently stepped down as C-E-O of Parler, a social media platform popular with conservatives.

“I’m glad the government is shutdown right now,” Rhodes said, “and I’m glad we actually have a congress that is finally standing against an extra $1.3 trillion of communist ObamaCare, period.” Candidate Christian Schlaefer is a farmer and software engineer from Lakota. He says President Trump has done an amazing job, but the D.C. swamp is far deeper and more dangerous that anyone had imagined.

Five GOP candidates gathered for forum in Treynor on Oct. 27, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Sheila Brummer, Iowa Public Radio)

“If we allow Democrats, progressives or woke ideology individuals to take over this country again, they will turn against us with a revenge for the great things that we’ve been able to accomplish.” Siouxland Chamber of Commerce President Chris McGowan says members of congress from both parties have shown they cannot say no to more spending — and the federal deficit grows.

“Our federal debt — now at $38 trillion,” McGowan said. “…The surest and fastest way to arrest that spending is to force congress to remain disciplined and to advocate for…a balanced budget amendment.” Matt Windschitl of Missouri Valley is the only one of the candidates who’s won elected office before. Windschitl has been one of the G-O-P leaders in the Iowa House for the past 16 years.

“The same principles that we’ve applied here in Iowa that I’ve been a part of need to be what is applied in Washington, D.C.,” Windschitl said. “Yes, that means we’re going to have to tighten the belt…Yes, that means we’re going to have to cut back on the reckless spending.”

Republican Randy Feenstra, who currently represents the fourth congressional district, formally kicked off his campaign for governor today (Tuesday). Three Democrats have been campaigning in the district.