With just under a month until primary elections slated for June 2, The Daily Iowan spoke with governor candidate U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa emphasized a need for year-round E15, lowering of taxes, “world-class education” and affordable healthcare, and keeping Iowans in the state on May 6.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

The Daily Iowan: With just under a month until the primaries, what are the core issues you are running on so as to appeal to your constituents?

I’m born and raised in northwest Iowa, a little small town of Hull. I am a fourth generation Iowan. I still go to the same church, the same school as what my parents did. My vision for the state is a vision put together by going all over the state, listening to people. 

Number one is, we got to be the most business and ag friendly state in the country. We got to protect our main streets. We have to protect our businesses and have them grow. 

Number two, we have to deliver world-class education. We have to get back to world class education, making sure that every kid has a great education, from K-12 all the way to community colleges to our universities. 

Number three, our number one export is our kids. We have to make sure our kids stay right here. I have four wonderful kids. I want to make sure that they have jobs in Iowa. That we have this great workforce, and that’s our kids, when they graduate from high school with a skill I want a job waiting for them. 

Then finally, we have to have high quality, affordable, accessible healthcare. I was a volunteer EMT for 15 years in our small town. I know how important it is to have that ambulance show up within minutes and not hours. I know how important it is for women to have maternity care close by and not travel 75 to 100 miles, which is happening in some parts of our state. So, these are my key visionary points of taking Iowa to new heights by doing these four components.

Leading the pack in the number of dollars fundraised, what do you attribute that success to and in what ways does it aid your campaign?

If you look at people supporting me and contributing to me, they’re all Iowans. They care. They’re willing to invest in Randy being the next governor. And I think that’s so important, is that, you know, people have the investment, but also understand my vision of making sure that we are the business, most business, united, friendly state in America. That we are going to deliver world class education, that we are going to make sure our kids stay right here in Iowa.

I have four wonderful kids. I want to make sure that they stay here and that we do have high quality, affordable, accessible healthcare. You know, I’m earning every single vote in Iowa, and that’s what I’m doing, traveling this great state, telling my message, listening to people, and taking the state to new heights.

There are concerns about you having grassroots support that may not be strong. Your spokesperson called this “a narrative being pushed by failing campaigns mired in the single digits and not gaining any traction.” Congressman, what do you have to say in relation to this?

I want to say, ‘Hey, I’m not going to listen to pundits.’ I’m on the campaign trail every single day, listening to Iowans, going to meet and greets and listening to what’s important to them. I’m making sure that I’m telling my vision. We have tremendous amount of support. Obviously, you can see that in my fundraising dollars. You can see that in people that are coming to my events. Grassroots support is tremendously strong for me, and I’m excited. I’m excited to win the primary and take on Rob Sand and be the next Governor of Iowa.

The Iowa legislature on Sunday approved a massive property tax overhaul. What is your response to this and what do you plan to do if elected governor to appease those in your voting base who are concerned about the impact of the overhaul?

I applaud the legislature and Gov. Reynolds for tackling reduction of property taxes. The number one thing I hear, OK, the number one thing I hear on the campaign trail is seniors saying, ‘I live on a fixed income and I can no longer pay my property taxes. I don’t know where to go.’

 I also hear this from small businesses on Main Street that simply say, ‘I can’t continue to open my doors because of property taxes.’ So this is a great step, but however, we got to continue to work and make sure that we protect essential services like police and fire, roads and schools, and yet working with our cities and counties and our schools to figure out solutions to lower property taxes, and this is what I will do when I become governor. 

I’ll also make sure that that private property belongs to the individual. Right now in our state, you know, we’re number one in agriculture around the country, and we have to make sure that ag land stays with the farmer, that the private sector or public sector cannot use the internet domain to take land. I think that’s very wrong. We have to make sure that we protect each landowner and protect property rights of people.

As the war in Iran continues, prices surrounding oil and gas prices as well as the cost of fertilizer continue to compound. How do you plan to address these compounding prices and what are you hearing from farmers ahead of planting season?

Again, we are continuing to work with solutions on lowering gas prices in this great state. Next week, on May 13, we’re going to pass E15 year round. This will lower gas prices. We look at E85 that saves $1 to $1.20 per gallon when people use it. 

We have domestic energy right here in Iowa, and we have to make sure we’re pushing that agenda, making sure that we’re using this new renewable way of energy, not using, you know, petroleum, but we have our own ethanol right here in this great state. I’m a massive proponent of it, and we’ll continue to grow it in our state.

You have long stood behind proposed tax cuts. Why is this and if elected governor, what bills or legislation would sign into law or like to see reflecting this?

When you start looking, there’s no such thing as a money government tree, a government money tree, meaning that everybody just thinks, Well, we have money for this or that. No, it’s we the taxpayer, all right? So everything that gets done by the government comes from we, the taxpayer. 

And when you have individuals, families, small businesses, keep more of their own money, all right? That helps the bottom line. That helps the budget of the family. It helps that small businesses say, ‘Hey, I have more money that I can buy more equipment or I can grow’ and that’s why the limiting of taxes on people is so important, because it actually grows your economy. It also helps families. It helps the agricultural business, and that’s why I’m a proponent of continuing to find solutions, but also making sure that we have world-class schools, that we have great healthcare. 

It goes hand in hand and it works collaboratively. So when I’m governor, I look at all these things and figure out solutions of how we can have world-class education? How can we be number one when it comes to business and industry, keep our kids here, but also have accessible, affordable healthcare?

With additional budget deficits Iowans are facing, are increased tax cuts feasible and if so, why?

Well, the great thing is, when taxes are cut, it actually grows your economy, so that increases wages, so people have more dollars to spend. I think that’s so important. I also think it creates new businesses and new opportunities for people. This is what Iowa is all about. We see this in many other states. When you continue to increase taxes, you also have less jobs, you have less unemployment. People can’t afford houses anymore. That’s the way. That’s not the way Iowa should be. And all we have to do is look at Illinois or Minnesota or California. All right, we’ll never be one of those states. We have to make sure that we are taking care of one another, that we have vibrant main streets, that we have great economic engines, and that agriculture, which is still the backbone of our economy, continues to grow and succeed in this great state.