Democrats look for a foothold in Iowa as Vance visits to boost Republicans
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — After years of coming up short, Democrats think they can make Iowa a political battleground again.
Republican Donald Trump may have won the state by double digits in the last presidential election, but growing dissatisfaction with his leadership and rising costs from the Iran war could help set the stage for Democrats to make previously unattainable gains.
Iowa Democrats plan to have 60 field organizers on the ground by June, nearly double from eight years ago during the midterm elections of Trump's first term. Another two dozen people will staff a coordinated campaign that's intended to support candidates for governor, U.S. House and U.S. Senate, among others.
“Iowa is still, in my view, a purple state," state party chair Rita Hart said in an interview. "We just haven’t given them an opportunity to show that lately.”
Republicans insist that Iowa will remain red, but White House travel plans suggest there may be some concern. Vice President JD Vance is visiting on Tuesday to support Rep. Zach Nunn, who represents Des Moines, its suburbs and the state's rural center. Trump also chose Iowa as his first stop when he began his midterm campaigning earlier this year.
Iowa has an unusual number of competitive races for open seats this year, with Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds and Republican Sen. Joni Ernst both opting out of reelection bids.
Leading what Hart called “the best statewide ticket we’ve had for a generation" is Rob Sand, the state auditor running for governor. He ended last year with $13 million in his campaign account, and he often highlights his rural roots, Christian faith and bowhunting prowess, as well as a disdain for partisan politics, to try to appeal to Iowans of all backgrounds.
Josh Turek and Zach Wahls, both state lawmakers, are seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in the June 2 primary. The party is also targeting three of the four Republican-held U.S. House seats.
Democrats believe a populist economic message could resonate in Iowa when farmers are squeezed by tariffs and face higher prices for fertilizer and diesel fuel. In addition, hundreds of people have lost jobs as factories and meat processors shut down, and rural residents are driving further to see doctors as healthcare clinics close.
This year's candidates are also willing to take swings at their own party, even though they will likely benefit from campaign spending by national organizations.
Turek and Wahls say Democrats have abandoned the rural and small-town voters who placed hope in Trump to change the status quo. Turek, who calls himself a “prairie populist,” says there are too many millionaires in Congress who don’t know what it is to live paycheck to paycheck. Wahls, endorsed by several labor unions, says corruption in politics benefits corporate interests over working people.
Christina Bohannan, who is running for a third time to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks in a southeast Iowa district, said both major political parties “have failed to really fight for working people.”
“Everybody’s talking about affordability,” she said. “I don’t want it just to become a catchphrase that people can kind of just brush aside as political rhetoric. This is real.”
Sand targets the entire political system, which he said "helps incumbents get reelected, rather than actually forcing them to solve our problems.” He recently introduced policy proposals, including term limits, bans on stock trading while in office, and open primaries.
Before Trump’s dominance in the region, it wasn’t uncommon to find Democrats representing the Midwest and Plains states in governors’ mansions or in Congress. Trump’s promises to resurrect American manufacturing jobs and “drain the swamp” won over voters who traditionally supported populist Democrats, said Iowa Democratic strategist Jeff Link.
“Because the knee-jerk reaction to Trump is to be the opposite of Trump, we went away from economic populism to our detriment,” Link said. “By just being anti-Trump, it is being condescending towards people that chose him three times.”
Tom Harkin, a former Democratic senator from Iowa, said Trump’s stumbles have created an opportunity for change.
“I think a lot of people wanted to get things shaken up a little bit," he said. "But I don’t think they wanted them shaken up like this."
Harkin said his party has an opportunity to rebrand itself.
“I think Democrats in the Midwest especially got painted with this broad brush, and we didn’t fight back well enough," he said. "We became more defensive.”
Republicans argue that Democrats' left-wing positions remain out of touch with Iowans' values.
“You can’t have political born-again experiences,” said Jeff Kaufmann, chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa. He said tweaking the message and running away from the national party is not going to “erase your history in one election cycle."
Kaufmann acknowledged that the cycle wouldn’t be easy but said Iowans trust Trump’s long game, knowing that he intends for tariffs to protect Iowa farmers and war with Iran to eliminate the country’s nuclear threat. But, he said, it took years for Democrats to lose the Iowa communities that flipped from supporting Barack Obama to backing Trump.
“It’s going to take a long time for them to build it back up again,” Kaufmann said.
The political environment for Democrats has been bleak since Obama won the state in 2008 and 2012. Republicans have had total control in the Iowa state government for nearly a decade. All six members of the federal delegation are Republicans.
Democrats also lag Republicans by roughly 200,000 registered voters statewide and run at a deficit in each of the four congressional districts.
Iowa Democrats said 7,000 people have signed up over the past year to volunteer for Democratic candidates, and the state party will hold volunteer training sessions. The party has signed leases on eight field offices with plans to open at least seven more, including in blue-collar areas in eastern Iowa along the Mississippi River that supported Obama before pivoting to Trump.
“We’re investing so much in these organizers and in our county parties and supporting and training our volunteers,” Hart said. “It’s through these kinds of conversations where we build trust with voters.”
Senior leaders expect their spending this cycle to be on par with presidential years, reaching the high seven figures. They’re also pivoting from text messages and digital advertising to face-to-face conversations.
“Since the pandemic, we’ve really struggled with getting back to the basics with person-to-person communication," Hart said, adding, “We’ve got to get back to that.”
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