DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) 鈥� After years of coming up short, Democrats think they can make Iowa again.
Republican Donald Trump may have won the state by double digits in the last presidential election, but and 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.
鈥淚owa is still, in my view, a purple state,” state party chair Rita Hart said in an interview. “We just haven鈥檛 given them an opportunity to show that lately.鈥�
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 when he began his midterm campaigning earlier this year.
Iowa has an unusual number of competitive races for open seats this year, with Republican and Republican both opting out of reelection bids.
Leading what Hart called 鈥渢he best statewide ticket we鈥檝e had for a generation” is , 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 in the June 2 primary. The party is also targeting three of the four Republican-held U.S. House seats.
Democrats focus on cost of living
Democrats believe a populist economic message could resonate in Iowa when farmers are and 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 鈥減rairie populist,鈥� says there are too many millionaires in Congress who don鈥檛 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 鈥渉ave failed to really fight for working people.鈥�
鈥淓verybody鈥檚 talking about affordability,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want it just to become a catchphrase that people can kind of just brush aside as political rhetoric. This is real.鈥�
Sand targets the entire political system, which he said “helps incumbents get reelected, rather than actually forcing them to solve our problems.鈥� He recently introduced policy proposals, including term limits, bans on stock trading while in office, and open primaries.
Republicans say Democrats remain out of touch
Before Trump鈥檚 , it wasn鈥檛 uncommon to find Democrats representing the Midwest and Plains states in governors鈥� mansions or in Congress. Trump鈥檚 promises to resurrect American manufacturing jobs and 鈥渄rain the swamp鈥� won over voters who traditionally supported populist Democrats, said Iowa Democratic strategist Jeff Link.
鈥淏ecause the knee-jerk reaction to Trump is to be the opposite of Trump, we went away from economic populism to our detriment,鈥� Link said. 鈥淏y just being anti-Trump, it is being condescending towards people that chose him three times.鈥�
Tom Harkin, a former Democratic senator from Iowa, said Trump鈥檚 stumbles have created an opportunity for change.
鈥淚 think a lot of people wanted to get things shaken up a little bit,” he said. “But I don鈥檛 think they wanted them shaken up like this.”
Harkin said his party has an opportunity to rebrand itself.
鈥淚 think Democrats in the Midwest especially got painted with this broad brush, and we didn鈥檛 fight back well enough,” he said. “We became more defensive.鈥�
Republicans argue that Democrats’ left-wing positions remain out of touch with Iowans’ values.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 have political born-again experiences,鈥� 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 鈥渆rase your history in one election cycle.”
Kaufmann acknowledged that the cycle wouldn鈥檛 be easy but said Iowans trust Trump鈥檚 long game, knowing that he intends for tariffs to protect Iowa farmers and war with Iran to eliminate the country鈥檚 nuclear threat. But, he said, it took years for Democrats to lose the Iowa communities that flipped from supporting Barack Obama to backing Trump.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to take a long time for them to build it back up again,鈥� Kaufmann said.
Democrats try to rebuild
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.
鈥淲e鈥檙e investing so much in these organizers and in our county parties and supporting and training our volunteers,鈥� Hart said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 through these kinds of conversations where we build trust with voters.鈥�
Senior leaders expect their spending this cycle to be on par with presidential years, reaching the high seven figures. They鈥檙e also pivoting from text messages and digital advertising to face-to-face conversations.
鈥淪ince the pandemic, we鈥檝e really struggled with getting back to the basics with person-to-person communication,” Hart said, adding, 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to get back to that.鈥�
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