Rep. Steve King (R-IA) seems to finally be reaping what he sowed, as he lost a prominent endorsement Thursday to a challenger who’s already been significantly out-fundraising him.
Bob Vander Plaats, president of the prominent evangelical group The Family Leader, threw his support to one of King’s challengers, GOP state Sen. Randy Feenstra.
According to the Des Moines register, Vander Plaats had long supported King until the lawmaker’s comments about white supremacy last January.
The recent comments by @SteveKingIA published in the @nytimes are a bridge too far. The good people of the 4th District of Iowa deserve better leadership that is representative of who they are.
— Bob Vander Plaats (@bobvanderplaats) January 11, 2019
This lost endorsement comes on the heels of more bad news for King, as he only pulled in $92,000 this quarter to Feenstra’s $140,000.
But, as this is the amazing teflon Steve King, all bad news for his reelection prospects must be taken with a grain of salt. As the Register points out, King has historically under-earned compared to his challengers and still managed to come out on top. In 2018, his Democratic challenger J.D. Scholten consistently out-fundraised him, by as much as a factor of four in the last quarter, and still lost the election.
