Steen Ad Frames Iowa Governor’s Race as “Good vs. Evil”

“Good vs. Evil” Campaign Message Blurs Line Between Governance and Judgment

Iowa Republican gubernatorial candidate Adam Steen is drawing attention with a new campaign ad that frames the 2026 race in stark moral terms by pledging to defend Iowa from “radical woke ideology” and to “keep the satanists out” of the Iowa Capitol.

Steen, a former director of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services from Runnells, is one of five Republicans competing for the party’s nomination in Iowa’s open-seat governor’s race. His campaign previously attempted to remove primary opponent Eddie Andrews from the ballot, a move that drew criticism.

“I’m a Christian conservative. I’ll defend life. I’ll protect your kids against radical woke ideology. I’ll keep the satanists out of the Capitol because our Iowa values are under attack,” Steen says in the ad, titled “Good vs. Evil.”

The message builds on Steen’s prior actions while leading the Department of Administrative Services, where he twice denied requests from the Satanic Temple to install a public display in the Iowa Capitol during the holiday season. According to Steen, the ad is part of a broader statewide media effort aimed at reaching voters ahead of the June 2 primary.

Also seeking the Republican nomination are U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, business owner Zach Lahn, state legislator Eddie Andrews, and pastor Brad Sherman. On the Democratic side, Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand is the party’s nominee.

With Gov. Kim Reynolds not seeking re-election, the 2026 race marks the first open gubernatorial contest in Iowa in nearly a decade. The general election is scheduled for November 3.

Our Take: When Politics Becomes Theology

Steen’s ad is notable less for its policy proposals than for its framing. Casting a gubernatorial campaign as a battle between “good and evil” may resonate with a segment of voters, but it raises a fundamental question about governance. Who decides what, and who, falls on either side of that line?

The office of governor is not a pulpit. It is an executive role responsible for administering state government, upholding the law, and serving all Iowans regardless of religious belief or political identity.

The reference to “keeping satanists out of the Capitol” is particularly telling. The Iowa Capitol is a public building, and questions about access and expression are governed not by personal belief, but by constitutional principles. Especially those principles related to free speech and religious neutrality.

Notably, Steen also relies on familiar but undefined political language, phrases like “radical woke ideology,” without clearly explaining what he means. In political communication, this kind of phrasing is often described as a “dog whistle,” signaling alignment with a broader ideological audience while avoiding specific policy detail.

Whether voters view this messaging as conviction or as political theater will likely depend on how they interpret its underlying premise that public policy should be framed in explicitly moral or religious terms.

As the primary approaches, Steen’s strategy appears clear, to mobilize support through cultural and ideological alignment rather than detailed policy positioning. The broader question for Iowa voters is whether that approach reflects the kind of leadership they want in the governor’s office.