An Iowa state lawmaker has become the second Republican candidate seeking major office to quit their campaign on Monday. The exit comes amid a broader pattern of GOP departures, even as candidates from both parties have begun dropping out of competitive races.

“After careful consideration and discussion with my family, I have made the difficult but clear decision to suspend my campaign for Congress,” State Representative Shannon Lundgren announced.

A self-described “America First Wife, Mom and Grandma, Original Trump Supporter,” Lundgren did not mention the crisis in Minnesota. She said that the “challenges facing Iowa families are urgent, and I believe my voice and experience are most needed in the Iowa Legislature right now.”

Earlier on Monday, a leading Republican candidate for governor of Minnesota, Chris Madel, ended his campaign, and did cite the Trump administration’s activities in his home state.

He pointed to the “countless United States citizens who have been detained in Minnesota due to the color of their skin,” and noted, “I personally have spoken to several law enforcement officers, some Hispanic, and some Asian who have been pulled over by ice on pretextual stops.”

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“Driving while Hispanic is not a crime,” Madel added. “Neither is driving while Asian.”

“United States citizens, particularly those of color, live in fear,” he also told supporters. “United States citizens are carrying papers to prove their citizenship. That’s wrong.”

Responding to Lundgren’s announcement, political campaign strategist Jacob Perry said, “You’re going to start seeing a lot of this.”

Currently, 28 Republicans have either left Congress this term or announced their intention to not seek re-election. Twenty-three Democrats have as well.

Political strategists have largely predicted Democrats will take control of the House after the November midterm elections.

Democratic strategist and pundit James Carville, responding to the international outcry and condemnation over President Donald Trump’s failed efforts to acquire Greenland, predicted last week that he will likely lose big in the November midterm elections.

“He has to be electorally humiliated, and I think there’s a good, good chance that’s gonna happen this November,” Carville declared.

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Image via Wikimedia Commons 

President Donald Trump appeared to be seeking to defuse bipartisan nationwide condemnation of the actions of federal agents in Minnesota after the second killing of a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis in under three weeks.

“Governor Tim Walz called me with the request to work together with respect to Minnesota,” Trump wrote on Truth Social late Monday morning. “It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength.”

After announcing earlier that he was sending his border czar to Minneapolis, Trump said that he told Walz that he would have Tom Homan call him, “and that what we are looking for are any and all Criminals that they have in their possession.”

“The Governor, very respectfully, understood that, and I will be speaking to him in the near future. He was happy that Tom Homan was going to Minnesota, and so am I!”

Trump also said that “both Governor Walz and I want to make it better!”

READ MORE: Minnesota GOP Candidate for Governor Quits Over Federal ‘Retribution’ on Citizens

Politico’s Kyle Cheney reported that “Trump appears to be seeking an off ramp, amid signs public opinion has soured on the aggressive immigration offensive in Minnesota — an increasing legal pushback. He even has some gentle praise for Walz.”

The Bulwark’s Sam Stein noted that Trump is “clearly now looking for a way to tone down” in Minnesota.

“The walk-back begins,” wrote journalist Ahmed Baba. “Whatever changes Trump makes with DHS, ICE, & its presence in Minnesota it is not out of decency. It’s a political calculation because GOP is worried about the midterms. But the damage is done. Americans see his cruel, authoritarian project for what it is.”

Just past midnight, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had “fielded dozens of calls over the weekend from administration officials and senators, advisers said, with some worrying that public sentiment has turned against the administration’s immigration-enforcement actions.”

“Some of the president’s aides have come to see the increasingly volatile situation in Minneapolis as a political liability and believe the White House should be looking for an off-ramp, according to administration officials. However, others in the administration believe that ending the current efforts in Minneapolis would be a capitulation to the left, officials said.”

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Image via Reuters

A leading Republican candidate for governor in Minnesota has withdrawn from the race, citing the Republican Party’s “stated retribution on the citizens of our state,” and saying he cannot count himself a member of a party that would do so.

Chris Madel’s announcement Monday morning, just two days after federal agents shot and killed a second U.S. citizen in Minneapolis in under three weeks, was deemed “stunning” by the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Madel recorded a nearly eleven-minute video explaining his decision to withdraw.

“United States citizens, particularly those of color, live in fear,” he told supporters. “United States citizens are carrying papers to prove their citizenship. That’s wrong.”

“ICE has authorized its agents to raid homes using a civil warrant that need only be signed by a border patrol agent. That’s unconstitutional, it’s wrong. Weaponizing criminal investigations against political opponents is unconstitutional, regardless of who is in power,” he continued.

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Madel also pointed to the “countless United States citizens who have been detained in Minnesota due to the color of their skin. I personally have spoken to several law enforcement officers, some Hispanic, and some Asian who have been pulled over by ice on pretextual stops,” he said.

“Driving while Hispanic is not a crime,” Madel added. “Neither is driving while Asian.”

The Star Tribune reported that Madel “launched his campaign for governor as a staunch defender of law enforcement and had recently provided legal counsel to Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent who shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.”

“I do this because I believe the constitutional right to counsel is sacrosanct,” he said.

He also called the federal operation in Minnesota, Operation Metro Surge, “an unmitigated disaster.”

I am ending my campaign for Minnesota Governor. I describe why in the below video. Please watch until the end. (It is 10 minutes, 52 seconds.)

Thank you,
Chris pic.twitter.com/2nfyAyTzNZ

— Chris Madel (@CWMadel) January 26, 2026

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