Zach Lahn speaks after Randy Feenstra concedes in Republican Iowa gubernatorial primary

Added: 2026-06-03

[00:00:01]Together they built a homestead that remained in our family for 105 years until we lost it in 2005 when my great grandmother passed.

[00:00:09]Ours is a long Iowa story and it's precious to me.

[00:00:14]Every generation of my family has worked to build Iowa, has loved Iowa, and has fought for Iowa. And now it's my turn to do the same with ALL OF YOU.

[00:00:25]>> [cheering] [applause] >> I'LL ADMIT I DIDN'T ALWAYS UNDERSTAND THIS. I was one of those Iowa kids growing up who thought I had to leave to make my way. And for a while that's what I did. But the further I went away from home the the closer Iowa got to me in my heart. And I realized everything I needed was right back here.

[00:00:52]And that's why in 2014, as you guys all know, I bought that farm back. And together Annie and I rebuilt that place board by board.

[00:01:00]We did it because we wanted our kids to grow up the way generations of Lane kids HAD BEFORE THEM.

[00:01:07]>> [cheering] [applause] >> WE DID IT BECAUSE WE WANTED THEM TO KNOW that their story matters. Their story truly matters. But most of all we did it because we love Iowa.

[00:01:23]>> [cheering] [applause] >> THAT'S WHY I'M RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR.

[00:01:30]BECAUSE I fear every day we are losing the Iowa we love.

[00:01:34]We've lost 10,000 family farms since 2000. Our young people are leaving faster than 46 other states because they don't see enough opportunity here.

[00:01:44]Wall Street hedge funds and foreign interests are buying and selling our land, driving up costs so our kids are priced out of the market.

[00:01:52]They treat Iowa land like it's a commodity instead of our inheritance.

[00:01:57]They treat us like numbers, not neighbors.

[00:02:00]This is over WHEN I'M GOVERNOR.

[00:02:05]>> [cheering] >> SO, HERE'S WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO.

[00:02:23]IT'S TIME TO ban secret ownership. Tax the heck out of those Wall Street HEDGE FUNDS AND AND WE'RE GOING TO USE THAT MONEY TO LOWER property taxes for every IOWA FAMILY.

[00:02:34]>> [cheering] >> BIG AG HAS CREATED CORPORATE MONOPOLIES.

[00:02:38]They're squeezing our farmers for prices. They're jacking up prices on seed, input, and fertilizer, all while the price of grain stays the same.

[00:02:47]>> Bust them up.

[00:02:48]>> BUST THEM UP. LET'S GO.

[00:02:50]>> [cheering] >> ON THE FRONT STEPS OF OUR FARMHOUSE, many of you were here when I made when I announced my campaign, I made it very clear as governor, I will take on the Big Ag cartels. I will break up their monopolies and I will get Iowa farmers A FAIR DEAL.

[00:03:07]>> [cheering] >> BUT FINALLY, AN ISSUE THAT'S HARD to talk about, but we must talk about it.

[00:03:17]Iowa has the fastest growing cancer rate in the world.

[00:03:20]>> Yes.

[00:03:21]>> We all know something is terribly wrong.

[00:03:25]But too many politicians from Washington, D.C. to Des Moines have had their heads stuck in the sand while Big Ag and Big Pharma printed money. This will not go on WHEN I'M GOVERNOR.

[00:03:37]>> [cheering] >> IOWANS ARE GOING TO FUNERALS FOR people dying at 60 whose parents lived to be 80.

[00:03:49]>> Right.

[00:03:50]>> We are losing the wisdom of a generation.

[00:03:52]>> Right. We have to use every resource we have to solve this. We have to find out what big ag and big pharma knew about the safety of their products and when they knew it, and we need to direct our great state universities to use every resource at their disposal to fight this cancer epidemic AND END IT.

[00:04:10]>> [cheering] [cheering] >> THIS SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED LONG AGO. YOU ALL know this, but it didn't happen because politicians, by the way, politicians like Rob Sand have looked the other way as corporate interests have pillaged our state.

[00:04:32]And why?

[00:04:34]Why have they looked the other way?

[00:04:36]Because you can't fight corruption if you're beholden to the PEOPLE CAUSING IT.

[00:04:43]>> [cheering] >> YOU CAN'T STAND UP TO SPECIAL interests when they own your campaign.

[00:04:50]You can't put Iowa first when you're putting lobbyists first.

[00:04:54]I know many people have stood before you on election night making promises because that's what politicians do.

[00:05:02]I'M NOT A POLITICIAN.

[00:05:04]>> [cheering] [applause] >> LET'S GO.

[00:05:17]>> [cheering] >> YOU ALL KNOW THIS. I'M A HUSBAND FIRST, a father, a farmer, and a businessman.

[00:05:24]I'm my own biggest donor. I have not been bought and I will not be bought.

[00:05:30]>> [cheering] >> My only allegiance as governor is going to be to God, my family, and the people of Iowa. YOU HAVE MY WORD.

[00:05:47]>> [applause and cheering] >> BUT YOU KNOW WHO CAN'T SAY THAT?

[00:05:54]ROB SAND CAN'T SAY THAT.

[00:05:57]LOOK WHO'S FUNDING his campaign. George Soros.

[00:06:06]Reid Hoffman and most of all his family who has given him over $9 million.

[00:06:15]You know what? When you look at who's really funding him, it's clear.

[00:06:19]Rob Sand Rob Sand is not running a campaign. It's an auction and Iowa's ON THE BLOCK.

[00:06:29]WELL, HERE'S THE DEAL.

[00:06:31]>> [applause] >> WE HAVE A MESSAGE for Rob Sand and the establish establishment tonight.

[00:06:36]Iowa is not for sale.

[00:06:40]>> [cheering] >> He can't fight the establishment because he's been in politics for 20 years. HE IS THE ESTABLISHMENT.

[00:06:53]>> [cheering] >> TONIGHT PEOPLE ARE ASKING HOW WE'RE going to beat Rob Sand. Well, I'll tell you.

[00:06:59]The same way we won tonight, we're going to keep telling the truth.

[00:07:03]>> [cheering] [cheering] >> And here's the truth that Iowans are going to learn.

[00:07:13]Rob Sand wants you to believe he's a moderate.

[00:07:16]We've seen this movie before.

[00:07:21]Let's Across America, liberals like Rob Sand pretend to be moderate so they can get elected and they GOVERN LIKE RADICALS.

[00:07:30]ROB SAND HAS PROMISED TO veto any culture war bill. And every time I hear him say that, you need to know what he really means.

[00:07:37]It means he's willing to let boys play in girls sports.

[00:07:42]It means he's willing to allow late-term abortions.

[00:07:46]And he won't do a thing to stop illegal immigration.

[00:07:50]Rob Sand is not a moderate. He's a liberal career politician pretending to be someone he's not.

[00:07:57]That's not our That's not our campaign.

[00:08:00]Our campaign since the very beginning, many of you were there, it's been about issues.

[00:08:06]It's been about the future.

[00:08:08]Our message for the general election isn't going to change.

[00:08:13]We're not going to let wealthy donors, out-of-state interests, and political insiders decide the future of OUR STATE ANYMORE.

[00:08:23]>> [cheering] [applause] >> AND HERE'S WHY. IT'S VERY SIMPLE. You've hear You've heard me say this before.

[00:08:32]IOWA BELONGS TO IOWANS.

[00:08:35]>> [cheering] >> IOWA BELONGS TO THE families and children here.

[00:08:45]It belongs to the farmers working the ground.

[00:08:49]It belongs to the small towns that are fighting to survive.

[00:08:53]It belongs to the young people who want to stay home.

[00:08:58]IT BELONGS TO US.

[00:09:09]THERE'LL BE A LOT OF TALK ABOUT WHAT'S AT stake in this campaign.

[00:09:14]But you've heard our campaign. I prefer to think about what the opportunity is that we have before us.

[00:09:20]An opportunity to restore hope.

[00:09:23]To rebuild what's been lost.

[00:09:25]To make Iowa the best place in America to raise a family.

[00:09:30]To own a home.

[00:09:32]To start a business. And to build A LIFE.

[00:09:39]>> [applause and cheering] >> TONIGHT IS JUST THE BEGINNING. The fight starts now. God bless you and God bless the great state of Iowa. LET'S GO WIN IN NOVEMBER.

[00:09:55]WOO! [cheering]