Randall Lee Feenstra (born January 14, 1969) is an American politician and businessman serving as the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

for

Iowa's 4th congressional district Iowa's 4th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Iowa that covers its northwestern part, bordering the states of Minnesota, South Dakota, and Nebraska, and the Missouri River. The district includes Sioux City, ...

. The district covers much of the northwestern quadrant of the state, including

Sioux City Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County, ...

, but stretches as far east as

Ames Ames may refer to: Places United States * Ames, Arkansas, a place in Arkansas * Ames, Colorado * Ames, Illinois * Ames, Indiana * Ames, Iowa, the most populous city bearing this name * Ames, Kansas * Ames, Nebraska * Ames, New York * Ames, Ok ...

and Mason City. A member of the Republican Party, Feenstra served as an Iowa state senator for the 2nd district from 2009 to 2021. He was the Sioux County

treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

from 2006 to 2008. Feenstra defeated incumbent Steve King in the primary election for the Republican nomination for

in 2020. He defeated Democratic nominee J. D. Scholten in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

by more than 25 points and was sworn into Congress on January 3, 2021.

Early life and education

Randy Feenstra was born to parents Lee and Eleanor Feenstra on January 14, 1969. He is of Dutch ancestry. Feenstra graduated from Western Christian High School, where he played basketball. He received a bachelor's degree in business communications from

Dordt University Dordt University is a private evangelical Christian university in Sioux Center, Iowa. It was founded in 1955 and is affiliated with the Christian Reformed Church in North America. The university name is a reference to the Synod of Dordt (Dordr ...

, then called Dordt College, and his

MPA MPA or mPa may refer to: Academia Academic degrees * Master of Performing Arts * Master of Professional Accountancy * Master of Public Administration * Master of Public Affairs Schools * Mesa Preparatory Academy * Morgan Park Academy * Mound ...

from

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

Career

Feenstra began his career as sales manager for the Foreign Candy Company, known for being the first US company to import Warheads, later serving as

city administrator A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Hull, Iowa Hull is a city in Sioux County, Iowa. The population was 2,384 at the time of the 2020 census. History The first settlers in the Hull area arrived in 1872. The city was incorporated on May 15, 1886. Hull was named for John A. T. Hull, a member ...

for seven years."Hull city administrator now county treasurer"
Sioux Falls

Argus Leader The ''Argus Leader'' is the daily newspaper of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Owned by Gannett, it was the state's largest newspaper by total circulation until 2021 when it was surpassed by the ''Rapid City Journal'', according to statistics from the ...

, September 3, 2006, page 12. In 2006, he was elected Sioux County

Treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

, replacing Robert Hagey. Randy Jacobsma replaced Feenstra in a 2008 special election, as Feenstra won his first term in the

Iowa Senate The Iowa Senate is the upper house of the Iowa General Assembly, United States. There are 50 seats in the Iowa Senate, representing 50 single-member districts across the state of Iowa with populations of approximately 60,927 per constituency, . ...

that year. Feenstra was elected to the

Iowa State Senate The Iowa Senate is the upper house of the Iowa General Assembly, United States. There are 50 seats in the Iowa Senate, representing 50 single-member districts across the state of Iowa with populations of approximately 60,927 per constituency, . ...

in 2008 with 24,595 votes, running unopposed. He was reelected in 2012, again without opposition. He ran for a third uncontested term in 2016. In the Iowa Senate, Feenstra served on the Capital Projects, Fiscal, Tax Expenditure, Transportation, Ways and Means, and State Government Committee. While serving in the Iowa Senate, Feenstra worked for ISB Insurance in Hull, operated by Iowa State Bank. In 2017, he joined the faculty of

, after having taught there in an adjunct capacity since 2011.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2020

In 2019, Feenstra announced he would challenge incumbent Republican U.S. Representative Steve King in the 2020 Republican primary in

. His state senate district includes much of the northwestern portion of the congressional district. King, a nine-term incumbent, has a record of making inflammatory remarks, including support of the term "white nationalist." He had been stripped of his committee seats for asking why "white nationalist" was offensive. Feenstra noted this in announcing his campaign, saying that King's "caustic nature" had left the 4th "without a seat at the table." Republican Party leadership supported Feenstra in the primary. Feenstra raised more money during the primary than King, and was supported by the

United States Chamber of Commerce The United States Chamber of Commerce (USCC) is the largest lobbying group in the United States, representing over three million businesses and organizations. The group was founded in April 1912 out of local chambers of commerce at the urging ...

and

National Right to Life Committee The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) is the oldest and largest national anti-abortion organization in the United States with affiliates in all 50 states and more than 3,000 local chapters nationwide. Since the 1980s, NRLC has influen ...

. Feenstra's candidacy was also supported by conservative political commentator and radio host

Ben Shapiro Benjamin Aaron Shapiro (born January 15, 1984) is an American attorney, businessman, columnist, conservative political commentator, and media personality. At age 17, he became the youngest nationally syndicated columnist in the United States. ...

, who donated and urged his

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

followers to donate to Feenstra's campaign. Feenstra won the June 2 primary with 45.7% of the vote to King's 36%. Much of Feenstra's margin came from dominating his state senate district, which he carried with almost 75% of the vote. He defeated J. D. Scholten in the general election by a large margin, winning every county in his district except Story County.

2022

Feenstra is running for reelection in the district for the 2022 elections. He will face Democrat Ryan Melton and Liberty Candiate Bryan Holder.

Tenure

Iraq

In June 2021, Feenstra was one of 49 House Republicans to vote to repeal the

Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 The Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002,Committee on Agriculture * Committee on Budget *

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

Caucus memberships

Republican Main Street Partnership The Republican Main Street Partnership is a 501(c)(4) organization that was allied with the congressional Republican Main Street Caucus. The Partnership continues to exist, while the Caucus was dissolved by its members in February 2019. Hist ...

Republican Study Committee The Republican Study Committee (RSC) is a study group of conservative members of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives. As of 2021, the Chairman of the RSC is Representative Jim Banks of Indiana. Although the prim ...

Personal life

Feenstra married his wife Lynette in 1996. They have four children.