Edgar Lee Andrews (born May 31,1966) is an American politician,tech entrepreneur and minister who has served as a member of the Iowa House of Representatives for the 43rd district since 2021. He is a member of the Republican Party. In June 2025,he announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2026 Iowa gubernatorial election.[1]
Andrews lives in Johnston,Iowa and attended the University of Iowa where he obtained an bachelor's in electrical and computer engineering,began master's programs at the University of Massachusetts,Amherst and Iowa State University,completed his ministerial training at the Purpose Institute,and has begun a master's in biblical languages at Shiloh University.[2] Andrews works in tech.[3][4][5]
Andrews is married to Betty Andrews,his high school sweetheart,who,as of 2023,serves as the director of the NAACP Chapter for Iowa and Nebraska. Together they raised two daughters,a niece,and adopted a son who died. Andrews founded #mentoromics,a now-private youth program that teaches free coding specifically for making entrepreneurs with STEM skills. He founded the Des Moines Spanish Conversation group two decades ago,co-pastored Iglesia Pentecostal del Nombre de Jesus for a decade,and helped plant a Swahili congregation from Eastern Africa.[6]
In the 2000s,Andrews worked for DotNow and was the defendant in a consumer fraud probe by the Iowa Attorney General's Office's Consumer Protection Division after he and the company had more than 200 complaints reported against him and the company.[7] During the case,Andrews refused to cooperate with the Iowa Attorney General's Office and the Iowa Court of Appeals ultimately ruled against Andrews for his business practices.[7] Andrews has been the defendant in more than five dozen court cases in Iowa for various issues ranging from traffic violations to illegal business practices.[8]
Iowa House of Representatives
Andrews was elected to the Iowa House November 3,2020,defeating incumbent Democrat Karin Derry. During the campaign,Andrews was involved in a controversy for attending an event featuring the flag of the Confederate States of America.[citation needed] As a member of the Iowa House of Representatives,Andrews is the Chair of the International Relations Committee,and sits on the Health and Human Services Committee,Natural Resources Committee,Economic Growth and Technology Committee,[9]and the House Veterans Affairs Committee and as a member of the Commerce Committee. Additionally,he co-founded the Taiwan Friendship Caucus and in the past served as the Vice Chair for the Subcommittee on Health and Human Services Appropriations. [3][4][5] Andrews has been reprimanded and fined by the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board for violations of Iowa's campaign finance disclosure laws.[10]
2020 election
While running in the 2020 election,Andrews highlighted "family safety,education,low taxes and creation of entrepreneur zones to help mom and pop small businesses," but also stressed that mental health issues would be his top priority.[11][12]
2020 Iowa House of Representatives General Election for the 39th District[3]
Andrews ran legislation that would ban spousal-consent requirements for women who are seeking a hysterectomy.[13][14] On issues of policing,Andrews initially joined Democrats in voting against the "Back the Blue" bill,which created protections for police officers and punishments for protest-related offenses. He later joined Republicans in voting for the bill after the legislation returned from the Senate and was amended.[15][16][17] Andrews also pushed a parental rights bill,which would codify parental rights and protections for those rights. The legislation passed the House unanimously,but did not receive a vote in the Senate.[14][18][19]
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