Republican Chris McGowan will represent Iowa’s Fourth Congressional District in the U.S. House after defeating Democrat Dave Dawson in Tuesday’s election.
Unofficial returns published Wednesday morning showed McGowan receiving 178,845 votes, or 59.0%, compared with Dawson’s 123,940 votes, or 40.9%. The totals included returns from all 36 counties in the district and remain subject to canvassing.
Although approximately 71,000 more votes were cast in the district’s 2024 congressional race, Dawson earned a larger share of the vote than Democrat Ryan Melton received that year against Republican Randy Feenstra of Hull. Dawson’s 40.9% exceeded Melton’s 32.7% by 8.2 percentage points. Feenstra received over 250,000 votes in that election.
McGowan will succeed Feenstra when the new Congress convenes in January. In an election-night interview with Sioux County Radio, he expressed gratitude for the opportunity to represent the district.
“I’m so very pleased to have earned the support of Iowa’s fourth Congressional District. And I am looking forward to representing this constituency in the United States House of Representatives.”
McGowan credited his economic development experience, education as an attorney, and military service as factors in his victory. He also singled out Sioux County voters for their strong support.
He spent election night with family, friends, neighbors, and supporters at Republican Party headquarters in Sioux City’s Morningside area.
McGowan also praised Dawson’s service in the Iowa Legislature and his work as a prosecutor protecting vulnerable people.
“I’m personally proud to have been part of a campaign where two candidates could disagree without being disagreeable and focused their campaigns on policies rather than personalities.”
McGowan said he hopes to keep communicating with Dawson and learn more about issues his opponent cares about.
Looking ahead to his first term, McGowan identified fuel prices, fertilizer costs, and affordability as concerns he heard from voters. He said he wants to work across party lines with other Midwestern lawmakers on agriculture.
“And I think the first thing that we can do to address both value-added ag and affordability is to pass year-round E15 ethanol.”
He also identified advancing a farm bill as a priority and acknowledged that serving as a freshman Republican in the minority would require him to work especially hard to move those goals forward.
McGowan will be Iowa’s only Republican U.S. House member in the next Congress after Democrats won the state’s other three congressional districts. Democrats also won Iowa’s governor’s and U.S. Senate races and captured majorities in both chambers of Congress.
Asked on election night about the broader results, McGowan said he wanted to focus his remarks on his own district and race, but acknowledged disappointment over Republican losses.
“It sounds like a number of those candidates came up short this evening, which is certainly disappointing to me.”
He said Republicans would need to study the results, learn from them, and begin rebuilding.
Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann congratulated McGowan in a written statement following the election, describing him as a conservative who would represent the district’s values in Washington.
Dawson’s Full Concession Statement
Dawson released the following written statement Tuesday night:
“Congratulations to Chris McGowan on his election to Congress. Chris and I promised each other that we would run campaigns rooted in respect, and we both kept that promise. I wish him well as he takes on the work of representing this district, and I hope he serves every corner of it. I am so proud of what we built together. Nobody believed this district could be competitive, and we made the whole country watch it. We held a town hall in every one of our 36 counties. We refused corporate PAC money and were powered entirely by people. We ran on balance and accountability, and we proved that western Iowa will never again be taken for granted by either party. That does not end tonight. To my family, to every volunteer who knocked a door and every Iowan who believed: thank you. You have my whole heart. Now I will go back to work as a public servant, protecting Iowans as a prosecutor for Woodbury County, and I will keep showing up for our neighbors every single day. Let’s grow Iowa together.”
