Adam Steen, a businessman and former director of Iowa Administrative Services under Gov. Kim Reynolds, is one of five Republicans hoping to win his party’s nomination for the 2026 Iowa gubernatorial election.
Steen said that Reynolds’ decision not to seek reelection and his desire to create prosperous opportunities for young families motivated him to run for governor.
“My wife and I and many others looked at the landscape of the political scene and said, ‘We want to jump into this race to preserve and protect the culture of Iowa,’” Steen said. “We want to create opportunities for young families, young children, so that they could be more prosperous than the generation before.”
Steen has worked as a business owner for roughly 18 years and served in Reynolds’ cabinet for five years.
Steen said he knows how to clear a path for young businesses, adding that his operational experience allowed him to see what works and what does not work inside of state government.
“I know how to get the government out of the way, how to have less regulation, less red tape, if you will, to help entrepreneurs be successful and help existing businesses be successful as well,” Steen said.
One of Steen’s campaign promises is to make skilled trades in agriculture, construction, education and health care “cool again,” saying that there is not enough statewide promotion for the benefits of these occupations.
“My desire is to get opportunities in front of young people, so that they determine that Iowa is actually a great place to live,” Steen said. “I want to create opportunities for young families, both to be safe, but then also to be able to thrive working inside of companies here in Iowa, building companies here in Iowa and really being able to create the American dream right here in the Midwest, specifically in Iowa.”
Steen added that other priorities of his campaign are to emphasize conservative principles in Iowa, lower property taxes and bolster rural communities by advocating for new economic development strategies.
Steen said that he is a supporter of “school choice” among Iowa parents and wants to make changes to Iowa’s Education Savings Account (ESA) program by finding ways to expand and protect it.
The ESA program, created in 2023 by House File 68, allows eligible Iowa families to use state funds to cover private school tuition, non-traditional education and other fees.
“I would ensure that the ESA school choice program maintains and exists in perpetuity, so that families and communities can thrive and can learn how they want to learn,” Steen said.
Steen added that he supports public schools, but said teachers face standards that restrict their ability to teach, citing conversations he has had with public school educators.
“Teachers get frustrated because they’re not able to teach because of the ‘common core’ standards that are forced upon them,” Steen said. “I want to provide a level playing field for public schools to allow our teachers to actually teach.”
Steen said he is an advocate of classical education, an approach that emphasizes critical thinking.
“It’s a phonic-based curriculum, it’s critical thinking, it’s putting physical books in front of children,” Steen said. “It would change the culture of our public schools, and it would change the curriculum so much that our teachers would be allowed to teach our students, and our children would actually learn.”
State Auditor Rob Sand is the lone Democratic gubernatorial candidate left in the race, and Steen said he differs from Sand on several issues, including education.
“I believe in limited government and Rob Sand would be a regulatory type of governor,” Steen said. “Rob Sand does not believe in school choice. As you’re looking at a contrast between a Steen administration and a Sand administration, I believe Iowa is a shining light on a hill, and that we should remain free. We should remain limited from a government perspective, and Rob Sand would want us to be more like Minnesota, Illinois, Virginia and have tremendous government oversight and overreach in our personal and private lives.”
Steen said he has had the opportunity to work directly with Sand’s office and wishes the two would agree more on government operations.
“I wish that his department understood how to audit our government better than they do, and I believe that if they did audit and do their jobs better, we would find areas of expense that the government shouldn’t be using,” Steen said. “At this point, I don’t see many areas where he and I truly align.”
According to Gallup, affordability and the economy are some of the main domestic policy concerns among U.S. citizens.
Steen said that the best ways to address affordability concerns in Iowa is to reduce government spending and taxes and create more economic development opportunities to keep young people in Iowa.
“We need to create more high-paying jobs, and I would pursue that through joint ventures, strategic partnerships and spin-out innovation opportunities within existing companies,” Steen said. “I would crush government spending so that our taxes can be lowered and more money stays in our pockets.”
Steen said that he understands the concerns of young voters and college students, emphasizing that a Steen administration would create an environment in Iowa that is family-friendly and prosperous for young residents.
“I am somebody who is not too far removed from college, and I understand the issues,” Steen said. “I understand the challenges of raising a family, of starting a family and of finding a job. I will have an ability to not just solve the existing issues they’ve got, but we can solve them into perpetuity and create a sustainable environment that is young people-friendly.”
