Iowa Republicans are staring down a potentially contentious primary in the state’s gubernatorial race as they look to prevent Democrats from winning control of the office.

Rep. Randy Feenstra (R) became the most high-profile Republican to jump into the race, though a number of other notable figures are eyeing bids, including state Attorney General Brenna Bird. Former Iowa state Rep. Brad Sherman (R) also launched his gubernatorial campaign earlier this year. Meanwhile, it’s unclear whether President Trump will weigh in.

A fractious primary could stand to make the party more vulnerable in the race, which Cook Political Report rates as “lean Republican.”

“In some form or fashion you’re probably staring at a pretty competitive GOP primary when on the other hand you’ve got a Democrat who’s pretty much got the nomination locked down already, has the ability to self-fund and is out there driving a pretty aggressive campaign in its infancy,” said one Republican strategist.

Democrats seem thrilled with the idea of a Republican primary, with one national Democratic operative characterizing Gov. Kim Reynolds’s (R ) announcement that she would not seek reelection as one that set the forming GOP field into “chaos.”

“It seems like there is going to be a very crowded, messy, and expensive Republican primary,” the operative said.

Feenstra officially filed to run for governor earlier this month, and has since rolled out an ad touting his conservative record. According to the ad tracking company AdImpact, Feenstra’s campaign has reserved $294,000 in television ad reservations.

Additionally, Feenstra said in the........

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