Last week it appeared that Randy Feenstra was in danger of losing his status as the likely frontrunner for the Republican nomination for governor. Newly released campaign finance reports showed another candidate, Zach Lahn, had raised more money than the four-term congressman since the start of the year.
On Thursday, Feenstra — who Lahn has consistently criticized as a lackluster campaigner for ignoring the four other Republicans in the race and skipping candidate forums — suddenly acknowledged Lahn’s existence. Feenstra unveiled a campaign ad on Thursday morning that attacks Lahn for investing in a company that makes penis rings. It was an indication that Feenstra was worried about Lahn.
But early Friday afternoon, Feenstra’s team could breathe a sigh of relief: Donald Trump had finally made his pick.
“Randy Feenstra has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next Governor of Iowa — RANDY WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!” Trump wrote on TruthSocial.
“Randy is MAGA all the way!” the president said in a post that begins with Trump boasting about winning Iowa in three straight elections.
Until Trump posted on Friday, his lack of an endorsement in the governor’s race was notable. Trump endorsed Feenstra’s fellow House Republicans Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn for reelection last year. He also endorsed Rep. Ashley Hinson last year after she announced she was running for the U.S. Senate seat Joni Ernst is vacating. In January, Trump endorsed Joe Mitchell, one of the Republicans running to replace Hinson in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District. The following month, he endorsed Chris McGowan, a Republican seeking the 4th Congressional District seat Feenstra is vacating. Trump never mentioned Feenstra in his endorsement of McGowan.
Feenstra was also the only member of Iowa’s congressional delegation Trump did not invite to speak at the rally he held in Clive at the end of January.
“I am honored and humbled to earn President Trump’s complete and total endorsement to be the next Governor of Iowa,” Feenstra posted on social media after Trump’s endorsement. “Together, we will continue to advance the America First agenda and take Iowa to new heights!”
Zach Lahn, who sells Trump-style “Iowa First” merchandise on his campaign site, has not mentioned Trump backing Feenstra yet. After the endorsement, however, he posted on X, “I have never been more fired up to win this race than I am right now. It is time for a grassroots uprising.”
“LFG – Lets win this.”
Speaking to reporters at a campaign event in Newtown on Thursday night, Lahn had exuded confidence about winning the primary on Tuesday. He said the attack ad Feenstra launched earlier that day was evidence that Feenstra knew his campaign was failing.
“We’re looking at data ourselves, and we can see there’s a reason that we’ve been enduring attacks by our main opponent,” Lahn said. “It’s because we’re winning.”
The 15-second ad released Thursday targets Lahn for his investment in penis ring technology.
“Zach Lahn says he represents Iowa values,” the stern-voiced narrator says as the ad begins. “But Lahn invested a million dollars in a sex toy company called FirmTech.”
The video’s color palette is a hellish mixture of dark red, yellow and black. The soundtrack backing the narration indicates the subject at hand is frightening.
“They’re even connected with Pornhub, a website hurting marriages and harming children,” the narration continues.
Pornhub is a popular website featuring pornographic videos. Feenstra’s ad is the first time either Pornhub or sex toys have been mentioned in an ad by a candidate for governor of Iowa.
“Zach Lahn’s phony values end where his profits begin,” the ad finishes, as Feenstra’s smiling face appears at the bottom of the screen alongside the disclosure “Paid for by Feenstra for Governor.”
In small onscreen print, Feenstra’s ad cites a May 18 Des Moines Register story about Lahn’s investment in FirmTech Inc, which “sells penis rings that measure ‘the firmness, duration and number of nocturnal erections, indicators and predictors of cardiovascular disease and ED.’ It also sells a line of penis rings intended purely for pleasure, as well as female vibrators,” the Register reported.
FirmTech products are sold through a number of online retailers, including Amazon. The connection with Pornhub mentioned in the attack ad likely refers to some advertorial posts for FirmTech published on Pornhub’s Sexual Wellness Center website.
Lahn was an early investor in the company, apparently impressed by its Fitbit-style penis ring. He even served on the firm’s board of directors, but resigned in September 2023 over concerns about the direction in which the penis-tech company was moving, Lahn’s campaign told the Register.
“The campaign said Lahn stepped away from FirmTech’s board before any ‘pleasure’ products were released.”
“What I’ve invested in is not a sex toy,” Lahn told the Register. “It’s a grade two medical device.”
According to Lahn, “My investment purely and specifically is around the technology underlying it, which I think is actually going to help save men’s lives.”
Lahn did not discuss the content of Feenstra’s attack ad when speaking to reporters on Thursday night, and hasn’t discussed his interest in FirmTech’s penis ring technology since the ad was released.
