A Trump Endorsement Falls Flat: 4 Election Takeaways From Iowa and Beyond

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/03/us/politics/iowa-new-jersey-primary-takeaways.html?smid=url-share


The president’s pick for governor of Iowa lost his primary, while Democrats in the state chose their nominee in what they hope will be a competitive Senate race.


Republican voters in Iowa dealt a shock defeat to President Trump on Tuesday, narrowly rejecting his chosen candidate for governor in favor of another conservative contender who ran as a political outsider.

The primary loss for Representative Randy Feenstra, whom the president endorsed on Friday afternoon, came at a time of mixed signals of Mr. Trump’s power over the Republican Party. He has won a series of dominant primary victories over Republican opponents, but has faced rising pushback from his party in Congress.

Here are four takeaways from a busy primary night in Iowa and several other states. (You can follow California’s high-stakes primaries here.)

Trump had a rare high-profile primary loss.
In modern Republican primary politics, Mr. Trump’s endorsement is the gold standard. In the last month, it has ousted sitting senators, a congressman and state legislators whom the president deemed insufficiently loyal.

[The Revolution]

1. Zach Lahn is so fucking creepy

I knew he would appeal to a certain brand of Republican. Hopefully Rob Sand wipes the floor with him.