Iowa farmer presses Lahn on agricultural policy at farm visit
Zach Lahn, the Republican nominee for Iowa governor, is confronting skepticism from traditional GOP voters during his general election campaign, according to AP reporting. A political newcomer who describes himself as a “change candidate,” Lahn won the June primary over the candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump.
Lahn told the AP that he won the primary despite “an entire establishment was set up against me.” He criticizes politicians in both parties, accusing them of being bought by corporate interests.
His bid will test how an anti-establishment conservative fares with a broader general electorate and with traditional Republicans, a decade after Trump’s own brand of populism reshaped the GOP, the AP reported.
In Arlington, Iowa, Tim Burrack, a conservative farmer from northeast Iowa, told the AP he did not know Lahn before the primary winner “came out of nowhere.” When Lahn visited his farm last week, Burrack questioned him on his approach to agriculture.
“I hit him pretty hard,” Burrack told the AP, adding that he was still considering whether to vote for Lahn in November or not vote at all.
The farm visit was not Lahn’s first skeptical audience in Iowa, a state led by Republicans.