Steve King

For the author, see Stephen King. For other people named Steve King, see Steve King (disambiguation).

Steve King
Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from Iowa
In office
January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2021
Preceded byGreg Ganske
Succeeded byRandy Feenstra
Constituency5th district (2003–2013)
4th district (2013–2021)
Member of the Iowa Senate
from the 6th district
In office
January 13, 1997 – January 2, 2003
Preceded byWayne Bennett
Succeeded byThurman Gaskill
Personal details
Born
Steven Arnold King

(1949-05-28) May 28, 1949 (age 75)
Storm Lake, Iowa, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Marilyn King
​
(m. 1972)​
Children3
EducationNorthwest Missouri State University
Steve King's voice
Steve King speaks on the need to reform the United Nations
Recorded June 9, 2005

Steven Arnold King (born May 28, 1949) is an American far-right former politician and businessman who served as a U.S. representative from Iowa from 2003 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Iowa's 5th congressional district until 2013 and the state's 4th congressional district from 2013 to 2021.

Born in 1949 in Storm Lake, Iowa, King attended Northwest Missouri State University from 1967 to 1970. He founded a construction company in 1975 and worked in business and environmental study before seeking the Republican nomination for a seat in the Iowa Senate in 1996. He won the primary and the general election, and was reelected in 2000. In 2002 King was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 5th congressional district after the incumbent, Tom Latham, was reassigned to the 4th district after redistricting. He was reelected four times before the 2010 United States Census removed the 5th district and placed King in the 4th, which he represented from 2013.

King is an opponent of immigration and multiculturalism, and has a long history of racist and anti-immigrant rhetoric and white nationalist affiliations.[1][2][3] In 2018 The Washington Post described King as "the Congressman most openly affiliated with white nationalism."[1] King has been criticized for his affiliation with white supremacist ideas,[4] made controversial statements against immigrants,[5][6][7] and supported European right-wing populist and far-right politicians who have engaged in racism, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.[8]

For much of King's congressional tenure, Republican politicians and officials were silent about his rhetoric, and frequently sought his endorsement and campaigned with him because of his popularity with northwest Iowa's voters.[3][9] Shortly before the 2018 election, the National Republican Congressional Committee withdrew funding for King's reelection campaign and its chairman, Steve Stivers, condemned King's conduct, although Iowa's Republican senators and governor continued to endorse him.[9][10] King was narrowly reelected, but after a January 2019 interview in which he questioned the negative connotations of the terms "white nationalist" and "white supremacy",[11] he was widely condemned by both parties, the media, and public figures, and the Republican Steering Committee removed him from all House committee assignments.[12] King ran for reelection but, campaign funding and support having declined, lost the June 2020 Republican primary to Randy Feenstra by 10 points.[13][14]

  1. ^ a b Zauzmer, Julie (October 28, 2018). "Following the Pittsburgh attack, Rep. Steve King's Iowa supporters brush aside concern about his white nationalist views". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 5, 2018. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference nyt-timeline was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Gabriel, Trip; Martin, Jonathan; Fandos, Nicholas (January 14, 2019). "Steve King Removed From Committee Assignments Over White Supremacy Remark". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 15, 2019. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  4. ^ Bradner, Eric (October 30, 2018). "House GOP campaign chief blasts Iowa Rep. Steve King's 'white supremacy and hate'". CNN. Archived from the original on January 17, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Rep. Steve King: U.S. doesn't need 'somebody else's babies'". PBS NewsHour. March 13, 2017. Archived from the original on August 3, 2018. Retrieved August 3, 2018. King is known for making racially charged commentary
  7. ^ "A GOP congressman retweeted a self-described 'Nazi sympathizer.' His party did not rebuke him". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved August 3, 2018. King, whose racially inflected comments on subjects such as immigration and Western culture have drawn headlines for years
  8. ^ "Steve King tweet backing Geert Wilders sparks social media backlash". BBC News. March 13, 2017. Archived from the original on March 14, 2017. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  9. ^ a b Gabriel, Trip (January 11, 2019). "Steve King's White Supremacy Remark Is Rebuked by Iowa's Republican Senators". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 15, 2019. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  10. ^ Mangan, Dan (October 31, 2018). "GOP fund won't help Rep. Steve King in Iowa race due to his support for white supremacists". CNBC. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference :9 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ DeBonis, Mike (January 14, 2019). "House Republican leaders move to strip Rep. Steve King of his committee assignments over comments about white nationalism". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 14, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  13. ^ Zhou, Li (June 2, 2020). "Embattled Republican Rep. Steve King has lost his primary". Vox. New York City: Vox Media. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  14. ^ "Iowa Primary Election Results: Fourth Congressional District". The New York Times. June 24, 2020.