Iowa Tea Party Founder Ryan Rhodes said he’s running for Congress on a platform to “Make America Iowa.”

The lawmaker said he hopes to spread the hard-working values of those in his home state to the rest of the nation. Rhodes is a former Trump staffer.

“Iowa is the most American state in the country,” Rhodes said during an interview on Breitbart News Saturday, explaining his campaign slogan, “Make America Iowa.”

Early statement

In an end-of-July statement, the Iowa Tea Party founder said he wants to “Make America Iowa” as part of his 4th District Campaign.

“(I’ve) stood the test of time in over 15 years plus, been fighting those battles, from the Tea Party to now to deciding to run for Congress,” Rhodes said.

“And the administration also is going to need more stronger voices to get parts of the agenda done, especially to help cut the budget and to fight back against a lot of what’s going on.”

Background

The 4th Congressional District has been a conservative stronghold and was held by Rep. Randy Feenstra since 2020.

Updates from a Breitbart… Exclusive: Ryan Rhodes Running for Congress to 'Make America Iowa' Ryan Rhodes, the founder of the Iowa Tea Party, said on Breitbart News Saturday that he is running for Congress to "Make America Iowa." https://t.co/TKCOcWn7Kh pic.twitter.com/LfEVIdVLL3

— JeremiahOD (@jeremiahod) August 11, 2025

In addition to his work in politics, Rhodes has worked in agriculture, something that is a key part of the Iowa economy.

He also worked as the CEO of Parler, which was a breakout conservative social media platform thought a possible replacement for Twitter several years ago.

“I’ve done a lot of work in a lot of different areas, so I have a broad depth of understanding of issues and a lot of what’s going on right now,” Rhodes said.

Big Changes

Among other causes, Rhodes supports tougher immigration policies, even pointing to possible problems with immigrant mayoral candidates.

Of note, Rhodes pointed out Omar Fateh, the Minnesota state senator running for mayor of Minneapolis, and Zohran Mamdani, the New York state representative running for New York City mayor, as potentially problematic.

“We’ve brought in a lot of people who don’t share the same values as we do, like Omar Fateh or Mamdani,” Rhodes said.

“I don’t believe that our country can survive that onslaught of opposing values here, and I think Iowa is a place to be able to … defend those values as well.”