Editorial: The Fourth goes with Feenstra

The embarrassment is over.

Iowa's Fourth Congressional District no longer has to worry about its representative spouting off racist remark after racist remark. National media outlets will no longer do deep dives into northwest Iowa, asking why voters keep electing a bigot. When the calendar flips, we're actually going to be represented in Congress again.

2020 isn't so terrible after all.

Iowa District 2 State Sen. Randy Feenstra knocked off nine-term incumbent Rep. Steve King in Tuesday's Republican Party primary election. The defeat capped King's high-profile fall from power, which has been defined by one self-inflicted embarrassment after another. There's no need to dwell on his despicable comments anymore, but if you still need proof, just Google it.

Republican leadership stripped King of his committee assignments – including key spots on the judicial and agriculture committees – in January of 2019. When his term ends, the Fourth District will have gone two years without adequate representation in Congress. Unacceptable doesn't even begin to describe that reality. Luckily, Fourth District Republicans made the choice to move on.

While nobody has a crystal ball, the odds are heavily stacked in Feenstra's favor for victory come November. His opponent, Democrat J.D. Scholten, almost knocked off King in 2018, but the safe money says it won't be nearly as close this year. The Fourth is a conservative district that leans heavily to the right, and it deserves someone in Congress who can functionally represent those ideologies without constantly getting sidetracked by offensive and outrageous comments. Feenstra isn't going to embarrass this district, and for that matter, neither would Scholten.

Mercifully, King has been dethroned. Let us all move on from the sideshows and disappointment.