Democrats have been suffering losses for successive election cycles in a critical state and they are tired of it — but they don’t know what to do about it.
Iowa Democrats say the state party is at its “lowest point in decades,” according to The New York Times.
Once a purple state, Iowa is becoming much more like nearby Ohio — ruby red — and its policies reflect that. In recent years, GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds said to be on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ shortlist of 2024 presidential running mates, signed into law a school choice bill, restrictions on abortion, and limits on gender transition treatments for minors.
Despondent Democrats told complained about the successive losses as the national party became so left-wing Karl Marx would blush.
“It is so bad,” Claire Celsi, a Democratic state senator from West Des Moines told the Times. “I can’t even describe to you how bad it is.”
Dave Loebsack, a former Representative who served Iowa’s 2nd congressional district from 2007 to 2021, said that the challenges faced by Democrats in the state were unquestionable.
“There’s no question that Democrats are at a low point in Iowa,” he said. “It’s difficult even to recruit people to run when we’re so far down.”
Sarah Trone Garriott, a first-term Democratic state senator, acknowledged that her party’s difficulties had exceeded her initial expectations.
“It’s just been so exhausting and frustrating to continue to take losses,” she said. “If I had known everything that I was getting into, I don’t think I would have run in the first place, because it’s just been really hard, but I see so much opportunity in Iowa.”
Obviously, however, the majority of Iowans don’t share her vision.
Not long ago, Democrats were contenders in the state, maintaining control of the governor’s office for twelve consecutive years and holding one of the two U.S. Senate seats for three uninterrupted decades. However, Democrats have not secured a victory in a gubernatorial election since 2006 or in a Senate race since 2008.
President Barack Obama secured Iowa by an almost 10-point margin in 2008 and by six points in 2012. However, in the subsequent election cycle, former President Donald Trump clinched the state by a nine-point lead in his successful bid for the White House. Trump maintained an eight-point advantage in Iowa during the 2020 re-election campaign, despite his eventual defeat.
And in November, the last remaining Democrat in Iowa’s congressional delegation was defeated.
Democrats are left “doing a lot of finger-pointing and soul-searching about what has gone wrong, whether they have hit rock bottom yet and how to maneuver their way back to political relevance,” the Times reported.
