Trump returning to Iowa to campaign for Grassley, Reynolds

Perhaps it is a standard campaign visit in the midterm elections to a state that has treated him well in the past.

Or perhaps former President Donald Trump is coming to Iowa next month to ensure Chuck Grassley staves off what appears to be the toughest re-election campaign of his four decades in the U.S. Senate.

Whatever the reason, Trump plans to hold a campaign rally at Sioux City’s Gateway Airport on Thursday, Nov. 3 — just five days before Election Day, the Trump campaign announced Wednesday.

Trump plans to deliver remarks in support of his effort to advance his agenda and to energize voters to support Republican candidates Trump has endorsed, including Grassley and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, the Trump campaign said.

Trump’s last visit to Iowa was just more than a year ago: he endorsed Grassley — to a mixed reaction from the crowd gathered at the Iowa State Fairgrounds — during a rally on Oct. 9, 2021.

This time, Trump will be speaking in the hometown of Mike Franken, the Democratic opponent who is running closer to Grassley than any of Grassley’s previous six re-election opponents, according to polling and fundraising. A recent Mediacom/Des Moines Register Iowa Poll said Franken was within 3 percentage points of Grassley, who won his previous six re-election bids by an average of 35 points.

National elections forecasters are rating Iowa’s U.S. Senate campaign “likely Republican,” which is less confident than previous ratings earlier in the cycle but still the second-most confident in a Grassley victory.

Reynolds is running for re-election against Democrat Deidre DeJear and Libertarian Rick Stewart. Reynolds has held commanding leads in polling and fundraising in the gubernatorial campaign.

Trump won Iowa in both his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns.

Also Wednesday, the Trump campaign announced rallies during the final days before the election in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Ohio.

What Republicans are saying

Grassley’s campaign spokeswoman said he will take the opportunity to speak directly to Iowans and highlight what we believes are failures by President Joe Biden. The spokeswoman offered criticisms of Biden on the economy, immigration policy and crime.

“Sen. Grassley encourages Iowans to send a message to President Biden and his rubber stamp Mike Franken on Election Day by voting Republican to get our country back on track,” Grassley campaign spokeswoman Michaela Sundermann said.

Republican Party of Iowa chairman Jeff Kaufmann welcomed Trump back to northwest Iowa, which Kaufmann called, “the land of faith, farming and freedom.”

Through her campaign spokesman, Reynolds said she welcomes Trump back to Iowa.

“He loves this country, loves Iowa, loves our farmers, and will deliver a strong speech that highlights the destructive policies of the Biden administration and the radical Democrats in Washington, D.C.,” Reynolds said via her spokesman.

What Democrats are saying

Franken’s campaign manager Julie Stauch said Trump’s event will be “interesting” given Grassley in 2021 voted to confirm Biden’s 2020 victory over Trump despite Trump’s calls for the Senate to not confirm the presidential election results.

“It’s just very interesting to watch who’s coming in for Sen. Grassley at this point,” Stauch said. “I think the fact they’re in Sioux City reinforces the vulnerability (Grassley) faces up in northwest Iowa.”

DeJear, through her campaign spokeswoman, also called Trump’s visit “interesting.”

“It’s interesting but not surprising that Reynolds and the GOP would be welcoming Trump back despite more than half of Iowans’ disapproval,” DeJear said, referring to a new Iowa Poll. “At this point, she’s made it more than clear that she’s going to force her unpopular agenda on this state unless we interrupt her by electing a new governor.”

Iowa Democratic Party chairman Ross Wilburn, in a statement, criticized Iowa Republicans for welcoming a former president who attempted to overturn the 2020 election results, a movement that led to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

“Chuck Grassley and Kim Reynolds are so desperate to hang onto political power that they will stand with a traitor who wanted to overthrow our government, threatened the life of his vice president and who continues to support attacks on our democracy,” Wilburn said in the statement.

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