Trump wins Iowa by his largest margin yet

DES MOINES — As expected for most of the campaign — and despite one surprising poll — former President Donald Trump carried Iowa again Tuesday by his largest margin yet.

The Associated Press called Iowa for Trump at 9:40 p.m. Tuesday. With all of Iowa’s 99 counties reporting results by Wednesday evening, the Republican earned 55.7 percent of the vote in Iowa to 42.5 percent for Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump’s 13.2 percentage point margin in Iowa surpasses his previous victories here: He won Iowa by 9.3 points over Hillary Clinton in 2016 and by 8.2 points over Joe Biden in 2020.

With those previous Trump victories and Iowa Republicans’ success in state-level elections — the state has an all-Republican federal delegation, a Republican governor and all-Republican control of the Iowa Legislature — there were no expectations that Iowa would be a competitive state in the 2024 presidential election.

That appeared to remain the safe bet when a Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll, published in June, showed Trump with an 18-point lead over then-candidate and President Joe Biden.

But the first Iowa Poll after Harris became the Democratic candidate, published in September, showed Trump with just a 4-point lead over Harris. Then, over the last weekend before Election Day, the latest Iowa Poll delivered a shocker — showing Harris with a 3-point lead.

The results on election night painted a much different picture.

“After four years under Kamala Harris, Hawkeye state voters are eager for President Trump to fix what Kamala Harris broke,” Trump Campaign Senior Deputy Political Director Alex Latcham said in a statement. “Starting on Day 1, President Trump and Vice President JD Vance will help to ease costs, secure the border, and protect Social Security for retirees like Ann Selzer (director of the Iowa Poll).”

Selzer told the Register on Wednesday that she will be reviewing the poll’s data to determine how it was out of line with Iowa’s tally.

Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com

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