U.S. Rep. Steve King, who just two months ago won his ninth term in his toughest race to date, already has a Republican challenger in the 2020 primary election.

State Sen. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, announced Wednesday that he will run against King, a Republican from Kiron.

“Today, Iowa’s Fourth District doesn’t have a voice in Washington because our current representative’s caustic nature has left us without a seat at the table,” Feenstra said in a written statement. “We don’t need any more sideshows or distractions, we need to start winning for Iowa’s families.”

King represents the Fourth Congressional District, which includes Webster County and all of its surrounding counties.

Jeff King, a son of the congressman and a spokesman for him, quickly responded to Feenstra’s announcement.

“Today, misguided political opportunism, fueled by establishment puppeteers, has revealed that Mr. Feenstra is easily swayed by the lies of the left,” he said in a written statement.

“Today’s announcement by Feenstra is the third attempt by the establishment in as many primary cycles to take the Fourth District out of the hands of grassroots Republicans,” Jeff King continued. “Further, it’s an obvious attempt to undermine an effective and leading congressional ally of the president’s whom Trump frequently refers to as the world’s most conservative human being. From his statements, it appears that Mr. Feenstra offers Republican voters nothing but warmed over talking points from liberal blogs and failed Democratic candidates.”

In announcing his candidacy, Feenstra described the actions so far of the new Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives as “appalling.”

“They’ve made it clear that they want nothing less than to raise taxes to historic levels, ignore the rule of law and undo the successes made by President Trump,” Feenstra said. “The president needs effective conservative leaders in Congress who not only support his agenda, but actually get things done.”

He said he is committed to securing the nation’s borders, balancing the federal budget and simplifying taxes.

Feenstra is in his third term in the state Senate, where he is an assistant majority leader and chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, which handles tax legislation.

He was previously the Sioux County treasurer. Before being elected to that post in 2006, he was the city administrator in Hull for seven years. He is a business professor at Dordt College in Sioux Center.

He and his wife, Lynette, have four children.

During the November 2018 general election, King narrowly defeated Democrat J.D. Scholten, of Sioux City, by a margin of 50.34 percent to 47.01 percent.