Republicans and Democrats in the state agree: Iowa is a 'purple' state
President Trump won Iowa handily in 2016 during an election that devastated Democrats down the ballot, too: the Iowa Senate flipped, creating a Republican trifecta between both chambers of legislature and governor’s office, and the GOP nearly swept the state’s congressional delegation with just one Democrat representing Iowa in Washington.
But for Jeff Kaufmann, the chair of the state party, the celebration didn’t last long, Neither Republicans nor Democrats, he said, have the state firmly in their grasp so party leaders can never sit comfortably because of past successes.
“Yes, we got a little redder in 2016,” Kaufmann said. “I have had a lot of reporters try to get me to say: is Iowa red? And I would never say that because I know how that pendulum swings.”
And pendulum swung hard in 2016: the state voted twice for Barack Obama and then Trump carried it by nearly 10 points. Iowa has the most counties of any state—31 out of 99—that pivoted in this way.
https://cbs2iowa.com/news/local/republicans-and-democrats-in-the-state-agree-iowa-is-a-purple-state
