A polling memo obtained by Iowa Field Report shows that Republican congressional candidate Randy Feenstra surging by double digits in a survey conducted by the firm American Viewpoint.
In the poll, Feenstra, who is running to unseat Steve King in the fourth congressional district, saw his support rise by 12%. The survey showed Feenstra trailing Steve King by 34% to 41%. In January, Feenstra trailed King 22% to 53%.
The surge in support is thanks primarily to broadcast ads his campaign is running touting Feenstra’s background. The campaign has been running television ads in the Sioux City media market since early March. While the Sioux City market is the only one in the district that they’re running, the ads are performing as intended. The poll shows that in that part of the district, Feenstra leads King 40% to 32%.
If Feenstra stays on the air and goes up in other markets, all signs are that the gap will tighten even further.
Of the voters surveyed, 51% have seen, read, or heard something recently about Feenstra; and of those voters, Feenstra leads 51-29%. In other words, the more they know about Feenstra, the more they like him.
That means there’s a big potential upside for Feenstra going on air in the Des Moines market, where only 35% have seen, read, or heard something about him recently. If that number goes up, then Congressman Feenstra is a very real possibility.
It’s unlikely Feenstra’s opponent, Republican congressman Steve King, will have the financial resources to go up on television. The first-quarter campaign finance report showed that King had raised only $42,000 and had just $26,773 cash on hand. This is in stark contrast to Feenstra’s 16-to-1 cash on hand advantage, with $415,000 in the bank at the end of March.
The survey interviewed 400 voters in the 4th congressional district of Iowa. It was conducted via live operators over two nights, April 22 through the 23rd. Approximately 40% were done via cell phone. The margin of error is +/- 4.9%.
