Kaufmann re-elected to lead Iowa Republicans

DES MOINES — Jeff Kaufmann was re-elected Saturday to another two-year term as Republican Party of Iowa chairman.

Kaufmann was unanimously re-elected by the state party’s leadership committee during a meeting at RPI headquarters.

Kaufmann has been Iowa Republicans’ state party leader since 2015. In that decade, Iowa Republicans have gone from sharing control of state and federal government in Iowa with Democrats to near unfettered control and historic majorities.

Iowa Republicans also have maintained their first-in-the-nation presidential precinct caucus status, while Iowa Democrats in 2024 were demoted by the national party from the leadoff position both state parties had held since the early 1970s.

"After a flawless 2024 Caucus where Iowa showed why we are first in the nation and sweeping Republican wins in November, I am deeply humbled and honored to serve another term as chairman,” Kaufmann said Saturday in a statement. “We are doing our part here in Iowa to reverse the damage by the Biden administration and enact President Trump’s America first policies that serve, not abandon, states like Iowa."

Iowa Republicans in the 2024 elections maintained their grip on elected offices in the state.

All four Republican incumbents won their U.S. House elections, maintaining and all-Republican federal delegation from Iowa.

And Republicans expanded their super majorities in the Iowa Legislature: they have 66 of 100 seats in the Iowa House and 34 of 50 seats in the Senate.

President Donald Trump endorsed Kaufmann’s re-election in a social media post on Friday, saying Kaufmann has done “an incredible job” as Iowa Republicans’ state party chair.

“Jeff has overseen tremendous Republican gains in the Hawkeye State, including my HISTORIC WINS in 2016, 2020, and 2024,” Trump posted. “He is MAGA all the way, and I know he will do a fantastic job, and secure many more Victories for Iowa Republicans in 2026, and beyond.”

Trump carried Iowa in the general election in all three of his presidential campaigns: in 2016 and 2024 when he went on to win the White House, and in 2020 when he ultimately lost to Joe Biden.

Trump finished second in the 2016 Iowa caucuses and won them by a historic margin in 2024.

Linda Upmeyer was re-elected as co-chair Saturday, also unanimously.

“Our wins in November were just the beginning. I am excited to build off our massive victories and carry this momentum into the midterms,” Upmeyer said in a statement. “Iowa is a prime example of what a streamlined, bottom-up grassroots movement looks like, and I am honored to serve as co-chair.”

Rita Hart was recently re-elected as chairwoman of the Iowa Democratic Party.

Looking ahead to next election

Speaking to reporters Saturday afternoon after his re-election, Kaufmann said he believes Iowa Republicans’ fortunes in the 2026 elections will be tied to Trump’s approval ratings. And he hopes Republicans can buck historical trends if Iowans approve of Trump’s agenda in the next two years.

Historically, the political party that comes into power in the White House struggles in the next election two years later. That will be Republicans in 2026.

The 2018 general election, which was the first after Trump last won the White House, was one of the few in Iowa in the past decade when Republicans took a few lumps. Democrats won two of the four Congressional elections in 2018, and Gov. Kim Reynolds won her election by fewer than 3 percentage points. (Reynolds won four years later by 19 points.)

“A lot of that will potentially take care of itself if the president’s approval ratings are high,” Kaufmann said.

“I clearly feel that I have a mandate, not only from this relatively small (state party leadership) committee that is actually my governing board, but also Republicans at large, to hitch my wagon to the Trump agenda. And so that’s what we will do,” Kaufmann said. “And I am going to put my money that if what he’s doing now continues, in terms of success, and if the Congress remains unified behind him, I think that we could possibly see a (2002) as opposed to a 2018. But we’ve got to be prepared.”

The 2002 elections were the first after President George W. Bush was elected to his first term in 2000. Bucking historical trends, Republicans held their majority in the U.S. House and flipped the U.S. Senate to take control of that chamber as well.

In Iowa in 2002, Republicans won four of the five Congressional elections (when Iowa still had five U.S. House seats), although Democrats Tom Harkin, for U.S. Senate, and Tom Vilsack, for governor, won statewide.

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

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