President Donald Trump suffered a rare loss of a candidate he backed in this year’s Republican primaries.Zach Lahn won the Republican primary for Iowa governor over U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, who was endorsed by the president. Trump said in his Friday endorsement of Feenstra that “Randy is MAGA all the way!”Lahn previously worked for the conservative political organization Americans for Prosperity. He will face State Auditor Rob Sand, the lone Democrat currently holding statewide office, in the race to replace Gov. Kim Reynolds, who opted out of a third bid.Feenstra said late Tuesday that he called Lahn to concede.Feenstra told supporters in Hull, Iowa, that the outcome “wasn’t what we probably wanted” but that it would start a new chapter. He said he called Lahn to tell him to “carry the torch.”Declaring victory, Lahn said he’s not a politician and that as his own biggest donor “I have not been bought and I will not be bought.”“Tonight is just the beginning,” he said. “The fight starts now.”Lahn championed policies that appealed to Iowa’s conservative grassroots supporters, including a total ban on abortion and keeping liberal ideology out of public school classrooms. He also embraced the “Make America Healthy Again” movement.He was endorsed by former U.S. Rep. Steve King, who Feenstra unseated in the 2020 Republican congressional primary. After Trump endorsed Feenstra Friday, Turning Point Action, the conservative group founded by Charlie Kirk, gave their support to Lahn.Associated Press reporter Thomas Beaumont contributed from Iowa City.RelatedDonald Trump2026 electionsRandy FeenstraZach Lahn