As protests against racism and police brutality continue to erupt across the country, Iowa State Senator Randy Feenstra defeated incumbent U.S. Rep. Steve King, who alienated much of his party by embracing white supremacy, in the Republican primary in Iowa's Fourth Congressional District on Tuesday, according to the New York Times.
FILE - In this May 5, 2018, file photo, Sen. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, speaks during debate on the tax ... [+] 
King had a history of offensive comments and actions dating back to 2002, including arguing that whites contribute more to society than non-whites, associating with hard-right and neo-nazi politicians and questioning why phrases like white nationalist and white supremacist are offensive.
"White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization - how did that language become offensive?" King asked during a New York Times interview, which led House Republican leaders to strip him of his committee assignments and Senate Republican leaders to openly call for his resignation.
King's incumbency faced a threat from both Feenstra and Democrat JD Scholten, came within three points of unseating him in 2018 and was unopposed for the nomination on Tuesday.
Feenstra largely avoided going after King's comments, but questioned his efficacy as a representative without committee assignments, arguing during a debate that "the Fourth District needs a seat at the table, an effective conservative voice," and framed the election as being about "real results."
Due to King's alienation of many of his GOP colleagues and donors, Feenstra was able to outraise him 3-to-1 and win endorsements from key conservative groups including the US Chamber of Commerce, Republican Main Street Partnership and National Right To Life.
Iowa's Fourth District is a largely rural area in the northwest of the state. The district leans heavily Republican and has returned King to Congress by landslide margins most cycles of his nine terms in office. But Scholten was able to come close to a narrow upset in 2018 thanks to the spotlight on King's comments.
41%. Early polls had King leading by wide margins, but Feenstra's entry into the race and emergence as the frontrunner narrowed the gap considerably. In April, Feenstra's internal poll had him down by 7 points, but by May that narrowed to just 3. A Public Opinion Strategies poll later in May put Feenstra 2 points ahead of King, 41% to 39%.
The primary comes as the United States is grappling with a wave of protests over police brutality toward minorities sparked by the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black Minneapolis resident who was seen on video gasping for air and saying "I can't breathe" as a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes last Monday.
With Feenstra as the nominee, Democrats may put fewer resources into vying for the seat, which was seen as a worthy target mainly due to King's weakness as an incumbent.
The other big winner in Iowa on Tuesday was real estate executive Theresa Greenfield, who won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate with backing from much of the Democratic Party establishment. Greenfield defeated three rivals for the nomination, most prominently former Navy Admiral and Senate aide Michael Franken. Greenfield will now face Republican incumbent Joni Ernst. She outraised Ernst in the latest filing period, but still trails by a few million in cash-on-hand. The most recent poll of the race shows a statistical dead heat.
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