Home › States › Iowa

Key Takeaways — Iowa

Trump won Iowa by +13.7 in 2024 (56.1% vs 42.4%) — Iowa was a true swing state as recently as 2012 (Obama +5.8) before rapidly shifting Republican in 2016-2024
Joni Ernst's Senate seat is up in 2026 — rated Lean R but potentially competitive if Democrats find a strong candidate and the environment favors them
Iowa holds the first presidential caucuses in the nation (or was, until the DNC demoted Iowa after 2020 organizational failures; Republicans still use it)
Iowa's agricultural economy makes it particularly exposed to tariff and trade policy — the state is the largest corn and pork producer in the US, watching China trade relations closely

Lean R — 6 Electoral Votes

Iowa

Iowa (IA) — 6 Electoral Votes · Capital: Des Moines · Governor: Kim Reynolds (R)

2024 Presidential Election — Iowa

Source: Official 2024 General Election results — Trump +13.7. Margin: 13.7 pts.

Key Facts — Iowa

State	Iowa (IA)
Capital	Des Moines
Population	3.2M
Electoral Votes	6
Governor	Kim Reynolds (R)
Senator 1	Chuck Grassley (R)
Senator 2	Joni Ernst (R)
Party Lean	Lean R
2024 Trump	56.1%
2024 Harris	42.4%

Iowa: Economy, Agriculture & Politics

Iowa is the United States' leading producer of corn and soybeans and the top pork-producing state. Agriculture is not a peripheral industry here — it is the economy. About 85% of Iowa's land is farmland, and food and agriculture account for a significant share of the state's GDP and employment. This makes Iowa uniquely sensitive to trade policy and tariff-driven export retaliation.

When China imposed retaliatory tariffs on US soybeans during Trump's first term (2018–2019), Iowa farmers bore the brunt. Soybean prices fell sharply, farm income dropped, and the federal government paid out billions in trade aid to offset the damage. In 2026, with a 145% US tariff on Chinese goods and corresponding Chinese retaliation in place, Iowa's agricultural sector faces a similar or larger exposure. Iowa sent approximately $2.1 billion in agricultural exports to China in 2023 — a flow now severely disrupted. See: Trade & Tariffs: What Americans Think.

Politically, Iowa has shifted decisively Republican over the past decade. It voted twice for Barack Obama (2008, 2012), then flipped to Trump in 2016, and has moved further right since. Trump won Iowa by 8 points in 2020 and 13.7 points in 2024. The state's two senators — Chuck Grassley (R) and Joni Ernst (R) — represent a state that has become a reliable Republican anchor in the Midwest, unlike neighboring Wisconsin or Michigan, which remain genuinely competitive.