Articles Tagged: Iowa Democratic Party

National Democrats are adding the Iowa House and Senate to their 2026 target map, citing recent over-performance in special elections and new opportunities to cut into GOP control in Des Moines.

Iowa Democrats are divided on whether the party should split from national party leadership on how to hold the 2028 Democratic caucuses in the state, while most agree that Iowa should play an influential role in the presidential selection process.

Iowa Democratic candidates running for Congress urged members of their party to only support a deal to end the government shutdown if it includes extensions for health care subsidies, as lawmakers neared an agreement.

Wearing red “Iowa First LFG” hats, supporters cheered as Lahn vowed to protect farmland, oppose corporate consolidation and champion socially conservative policies in a bid to reshape Iowa’s future.

Iowa’s all-Republican U.S. House delegation is urging Senate Democrats to back a bipartisan plan to reopen the government, warning that the 20-day shutdown is hurting families, farmers and veterans across the state. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Republicans are refusing to negotiate over what he called a looming health care crisis at the center of the government shutdown stalemate.

President Donald Trump’s decision to redirect Pentagon research funds will keep Iowa National Guard troops paid during the government shutdown, but about 700 civilian employees remain without pay as the budget impasse drags into its third week.

Iowa’s leaders are clashing over who’s to blame for the partial federal government shutdown. Iowa’s Republican U.S. House members say Democrats forced it; Democrats argue Republicans walked away from compromise, risking higher health costs for thousands of Iowans.

Iowa families warn they could lose coverage or face massive premium hikes if Congress fails to extend health insurance subsidies. Democrats say Republicans are playing politics with health care as the shutdown fight escalates — while GOP leaders accuse Democrats of holding the government hostage.

Education, celebrity, rural identity influenced which candidates Iowa voters supported in presidential elections since 2012.

Over the last 12 years, Chickasaw County has seen the second-largest shift toward Republicans in presidential elections out of Iowa’s 99 counties. Between 2012 and 2024, the county has taken a 47.9-point swing toward Republicans.

Iowa Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson said the assassination of Charlie Kirk highlights what she called a pattern of left-wing violence against conservatives. “I don’t think it’s an American problem. I think it’s a left-wing problem,” she told reporters.

Jackson County, bordered by bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River to the east and cave networks, soaring rocks and hiking trails to the west, is among the Iowa counties that have shifted significantly to the right in the past decade. Here’s what residents there had to say about what’s behind the change.

Catelin Drey, a northwestern Iowa Democrat who won an August special election and broke the Republican supermajority in the Iowa Senate, was sworn in at the Iowa Capitol Monday morning.

Howard County in northeast Iowa had the largest move to the right in the last 12 years. It’s a county that former President Barack Obama won twice and that went to President Donald Trump by more than 20 points in the last three elections.

Since 2016, thousands of Iowans have shifted away from the Democratic Party as the state morphed from purple -- a mix of support for Democrats and Republicans -- to a ruby red Republican stronghold. This story, the first in a series, shares some of the stories of that shift.