Iowa’s conservative congressman Steve King has been voted out of the House.
The longtime incumbent known for his controversial remarks lost Tuesday’s primary race to state Sen. Randy Feenstra, according to a local NBC affiliate.
King was shunned by many on both sides of the aisle over the course of last year for his “Western civilization” comments, with the House stripping him of committee assignments and President Trump barring him from a trip on Air Force One.
King’s 17-year Congressional career has been defined by his strong anti-immigration stance, though Feenstra was able to vanquish him in the state’s 4th Congressional District by framing King as an ineffective lawmaker after he lost his committee assignments in the House, the Des Moines Register reported.
“I am truly humbled,” Feenstra said in a victory tweet late Tuesday. “Thank you to each and every person who supported us on this journey against all odds. You delivered. But tomorrow, it’s back to work.”
King at a town hall last May said that Western culture was superior to others, arguing that “if we presume that every culture is equal and has an equal amount to contribute to our civilization, then we’re devaluing the contributions of the people that laid the foundation for America and that’s our Founding Fathers.”
And in an interview with the New York Times earlier in January, he questioned why a term like “white supremacist” was racist.
“White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” he told the paper.
While King might be out, it’s not likely Republicans will lose the seat. After Feentsra’s victory, the Cook Political Report changed its forecast for the district this November, from “likely” Republican to “solid” Republican.
Feenstra will face off against Democrat Theresa Greenfield, a Des Moines real estate developer, in the general election.