Coming in hot towards the end of the primary campaign season, Iowa farmer Zach Lahn landed major last-minute donations and endorsements, pushing him to the top of the republican ticket for Iowa governor. 

The race was a nail-biter, as he received 37.8 percent of the vote, defeating U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra by 1,800 votes. Lahn also beat out Adam Steen, former Iowa Representative Brad Sherman, and Iowa Rep. Eddie Andrews, R-Des Moines. All five candidates were fighting for an open seat after current Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds announced she would not seek reelection. 

Trump-backed Feenstra, who finished closely behind Lahn, conceded just before 11 p.m. Tuesday night and is the only candidate endorsed by Trump to lose a primary seat in the U.S. so far. 

Lahn received an endorsement from Turning Point U.S.A and RFK Jr’s MAHA Action, the first politician to receive an endorsement from the group, according to his campaign website. 

Lahn raised over $3 million for his campaign, $2 million of which came from his own pocket. He also quickly amassed nearly $1 million since Jan. 1, whereas former front-runner Feenstra only raised under $750,000 in the same period, according to the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board. 

U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, who secured Iowa’s Republican nomination for U.S. Senate on Tuesday night, congratulated Lahn on securing the nomination in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

“Now, Republicans must unite and come together to win up and down the ticket and keep Iowa the commonsense, conservative success story it has become,” she said in the post. “Let’s go win!”

Lahn’s main policies include addressing emigration from Iowa to other states, putting more money into family farms, improving education, and addressing Iowa’s skyrocketing cancer rates. 

“These are not too much to ask,” his website says. “These are the basics. And it’s time we had a governor willing to fight for them.”