State Rep. Eddie Andrews has qualified for the 2026 Republican gubernatorial primary ballot, the State Objection Panel ruled Wednesday.
The three-person panel, which hears challenges to candidates’ nominating papers, began their discussion Tuesday on an objection filed challenging aspects of Andrews’ filing. When the panel initially met, staff for the Iowa Secretary of State’s office had found the campaign fell short of the requirement for gubernatorial candidates to submit at least 100 signatures from at least 19 counties in order to qualify for the June 2, 2026 primary ballot.
On Wednesday, after reviewing challenges to signatures in Carroll and Pottawattamie counties, the panel consisting of Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, Attorney General Brenna Bird and Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig voted to overrule the objection. The review from the Secretary of State’s office and the panel found Andrews had met the signature requirements to appear on the primary ballot.
After the State Objection Panel made its ruling, supporters of Andrews’ campaign in the room cheered. Andrews, speaking with reporters, thanked staff and the members of the panel for their work. He said the decision was not just a win “for the Eddie Andrews campaign, but it’s a win for Iowa and win for Iowa voters.”
“Citizens all across the state of Iowa … signed those petitions in all 99 counties, thousands,” Andrews said. “We exceeded by thousands the 3,500 [total signatures] threshold limit. And as you saw, we had 19 [counties with] … the minimum required signatures of 100. And let me tell you, I am extremely ecstatic, not just for our candidacy, but for the state of Iowa and the voters who now get a chance to have their voice heard on June 2.”
Objections were brought by David Bush, a Republican who spoke before the panel as it reconvened Wednesday. He said he was not informed of his ability to appear at the Tuesday hearing to make a statement about his objection, and came late to the previous meeting after hearing panelists ask for his statement. Bush said he was mischaracterized as “a coward,” “a shill for some campaign” and faced claims that he was “not even a real person” from online commenters and critics.
Bush said he raised the objection because of his commitment to election integrity and support for GOP efforts like the federal SAVE America Act. He also denied claims that the challenge was raised in order to boost the chances of another primary candidate in the field of five Republicans running for Iowa governor.
Andrews, U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, former Iowa Department of Administrative Services director Adam Steen, Zach Lahn, a businessman who has worked for Americans for Prosperity, and former state lawmaker Brad Sherman have qualified for the GOP primary ballot, according to the Iowa SOS office.
“While I am supporting another primary candidate in this race, my core reason for initiating this has nothing to do with hurting Eddie or helping someone else,” Bush said. “I hope we haven’t gotten to the point that supporting a candidate and wanting election integrity are mutually exclusive.”
Andrews told reporters he was contacted three times by staffers from the Steen campaign, who said they planned to challenge his place on the primary ballot. He said Steen staff met him and his campaign supporters at the Capitol before they submitted nominating papers and told Andrews their intent to file a challenge.
After the Johnston Republican had submitted his papers, Andrews said Steen called him on March 17, and told him, “if you’re not going to be on Team Steen, we are going to challenge you.”
“And I said, ‘thank you very much, I humbly decline that interesting offer,’” Andrews said. “On the 18th, his team called me again and laid it on thick. ‘Either join Team Steen, or we’re going to challenge you, every signature. I said — at that point, I hung up the phone and said, ‘do whatever you want to do.’”
A statement from the Steen campaign provided to the Iowa Capital Dispatch Wednesday said the claims made by Andrews characterizing Steen and campaign staff comments as threatening to challenging his candidacy were false.
“Neither Adam nor anyone affiliated with the campaign threatened Eddie Andrews,” the campaign said in the statement. “We did have conversations with him inviting him to join Team Steen because we respect Eddie, believe he has a lot to offer, and know he would be a valuable part of a Steen administration but at no point was it presented as a threat.”
The statement also clarified that while Bush supports Steen’s gubernatorial bid, “his decision to file a challenge was made independently, as is his right under Iowa law.” The Steen campaign stated they respect the decision of the State Objection Panel and that the challenge process functioned “as intended.”
On Tuesday, the panel had chosen to dismiss objections to Andrews’ campaign petitions based on paper size and formatting. But as the meeting began, Iowa Secretary of State staff accepted objections to a number of signatures in several counties that were based on legitimate concerns, like duplicate signatures or invalid addresses, which initially appeared to put Andrews below the 100 signatures in 19 counties requirement.
The panel had initially agreed to reconvene Wednesday after Andrews and Jacob Heard, his attorney, had said they were given insufficient time and notice to respond to the objection, and were not provided documents needed to dispute claims made by the challenge.
On Wednesday, SOS staff said Clayton and O’Brien counties did not meet the 100 signature threshold following further review of the questioned counties, but Clarke County was found to have 101 valid signatures. While Harrison County was first labeled as a county that did not meet the signature requirement, the panel accepted signatures that were initially deemed invalid due to paper size, ending the total at 112 signatures for the county Tuesday. This pushed Andrews over the 19-counties-with-100-signatures requirement.
Pate thanked Andrews, Bush and his fellow members of the panel for their efforts in reviewing the objection. He said he understood the “frustration” and questions about timelines and obligations brought up by the objector and the candidate, but said the panel also faces a tight deadline as the body has to provide sufficient time for their decision to be challenged in court and for primary ballots to be printed.
After having come to a conclusion, “we will put the ballots together and we’ll move on to the primary,” Pate said.
Robin Opsahl covers the Iowa Legislature and politics for Iowa Capital Dispatch, where this story first appeared.
