Kevin Virgil made waves in August when he urged supporters of his GOP primary campaign to vote for Democrat Ryan Melton in Iowa’s fourth Congressional district. But when the conservative Republican cast his own general election ballot, he wrote in his own name for Congress.
Virgil had called on voters to shock the Republican establishment by supporting Donald Trump for president and Melton in the IA-04 race. He explained in August that while he disagreed with the Democrat on many issues, “the only way that our so-called leadership is going to get the message is if ‘we the people’ demonstrate that we are no longer willing to tolerate bad candidates.” He stood by that position even as Iowa GOP leaders circled the wagons around U.S. Representative Randy Feenstra, the two-term incumbent who defeated Virgil in the primary.
But on October 24, Virgil announced in Facebook and X/Twitter posts, “I will be voting later today and will write my own name in on the congressional ballot.” He confirmed to Bleeding Heartland that he did so at the O’Brien County elections office.
Virgil appeared to reject the write-in strategy in one of his August posts, which declared that “the Republican party needs a serious wake-up call.”
We need better leaders who remember that they represent “we the people” and not Big Ag.
I have heard from hundreds, if not thousands, of voters who intend to write in my name on the ballot this November in the general election. I am so grateful for their support. However as we all know, 99.9% of write-in campaigns are unsuccessful and I urge them to use their vote more wisely.
I urge them to consider ‘holding their nose’ and voting out a bad leader, and sending a very clear message to Des Moines that our elected leaders need to remember who they work for.
In contrast, Virgil’s October 24 posts expressed gratitude for write-in votes.
I have previously said that anyone who is on the fence should consider voting for an honest Democrat rather than a spineless Republican. I stand by that statement.
I know a lot of people are planning to write my name in; I am extremely grateful for their support. I believe in what the Republican party stands for, but I will not blindly follow a group of so-called leaders who violate its principles and the Constitution again and again.
Asked why he had encouraged like-minded voters to do something he wasn’t willing to do himself, Virgil told Bleeding Heartland, “As disappointed as I’ve been with the Republican establishment, I was still on their primary ballot and so that makes my situation different from the average voter. I cannot in good conscience endorse this candidate but it would be disrespectful to those who supported my campaign if I were to vote for his opponent.”
The fourth is Iowa’s reddest U.S. House district by far. Considered safe for the GOP, its 36 counties contain about 112,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats, according to the latest official figures from the Iowa Secretary of State’s office. The Daily Kos Elections team (now publishing as The Downballot) calculated that voters in counties now part of IA-04 preferred Trump to Joe Biden in the 2020 election by 62.2 percent to 36.2 percent.
Virgil has indicated he is seriously considering another race against Feenstra in 2026. Despite being massively outspent after launching his campaign less than six months before the primary, the challenger gained nearly 40 percent of the vote and carried nine counties.
IA-04 covers the blue area on this map.
Top image is cropped from a photo Kevin Virgil posted on Facebook on June 5, the day after the 2024 GOP primary. In that post, he asked supporters, “Please find a safe place and save all of those campaign signs and t-posts to be used next time.”