U.S. Rep. Steve King could face his closest primary race in the 2020 Iowa primaries yet. The incumbent will be up against four other Republicans for the nomination.

King has held the rural, conservative Iowa district since 2002, but this could change. Recent internal polls show opponent Randy Feenstra as King’s greatest competition. A poll conducted on May 20 by Feenstra’s campaign showed him leading over King, 41 to 39 percent.

But an independent poll released on May 22, conducted by a conservative website, the Iowa Standard, showed King leading over Feenstra by double digits, 45.57 to 31.75 percent.

Opponents Jeremy Taylor, Steve Reeder and Bret Richards are following behind Feenstra in the low double digits and single digits according to the Iowa Standard.

King was stripped of his seats on the Agriculture Committee after an interview with The New York Times where he questioned when terms such as white supremacist and white nationalist had become offensive. King’s opponents have used this as a way to attack King, claiming he can’t be an effective leader in Congress.

King has since denied those claims and said his words were taken out of context, he still identifies as “an advocate for Western civilization’s values” and a “Nationalist” according to the Des Moines Register.

While Iowa Republicans like Gov. Kim Reynolds and U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst’s have yet to endorse any candidate for the race, former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has  made donations to the Feenstra campaign.

The candidate who receives the nomination will face off against J.D. Scholten, who ran and lost against King by only three points in 2018, while Reynolds won the district by 20 points that year. 

In a political forum conducted by the Story County GOP, all five of the candidates claimed to be constitutionalist conservative Christians that would fight for Second Amendment rights and defend the right to life. 

The deadline to request an absentee ballot in the State of Iowa closed May 22, and early voting is open until June 1. In-person voting is still an option, but polling locations have been reduced due to COVID-19.