Moderate GOP super PAC to spend $100K to oust Rep. Steve King

A super PAC aligned with moderate Republicans said Monday it would spend $100,000 to oust Rep. Steve King from Congress.

Defending Main Street, a super PAC affiliated with the Republican Main Street Partnership, said the expenditure would support the Iowa Republican’s primary challenger, state Sen. Randy Feenstra.

Mr. Feenstra will face off against Mr. King in a June 2020 primary. Defending Main Street’s six-figure campaign will include micro-targeted social media advertising, district-wide phone call efforts and direct mail advertising.

“Now more than ever, the people of Iowa’s 4th District need a voice in Washington, D.C.,” said Sarah Chamberlain, the super PAC’s treasurer and Republican Main Street Partnership CEO. “The small businesses, farmers, and families of this district are being excluded from eminently crucial decision-making amid the pandemic. It is time to restore the level of comprehensive representation these Iowans deserve.”

Republicans stripped Mr. King of his committee assignments following his outlandish comments last year surrounding white nationalism and western civilization. After Mr. King made more controversial comments surrounding rape and abortion last year, the clamor for his resignation among House Republican leadership grew.

The Republican Main Street Partnership has touted having 55 members in its ranks and is charting a path back to the majority that it has said it believes will arrive in 2022.

—

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly included Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana among the members of the House Republican leadership who had called for Mr. King’s resignation. While Mr. Scalise told The Washington Times in August 2019 that he thought Mr. King’s commentary justified stripping the Iowa congressman of his committee assignments, he did not explicitly address calls for Mr. King’s resignation at that time.

Mr. King’s office said the congressman thinks he was misquoted in other publications’ reporting of his commentary surrounding white nationalism and western civilization.