Iowa Democrats & Republicans Assessing Election Results

Nearly a week after the election, Iowa Democrats and Republicans are assessing this year’s results.

Donald Trump won all but five counties in Iowa and Republicans gained seats in the Iowa legislature. Iowa Democratic Party chair Rita Hart says the results are — in her words — “an absolute gut punch.” Matt Paul, a former aide to Tom Vilsack, ran Tom Harkin’s last U.S. Senate campaign and worked on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign. He now works as a consultant.

Paul says heading into the election, 65 to 70 percent of Americans thought the country was headed in the wrong direction. He says the election results show Democrats need to rethink how they talk about the economic issues Americans face on a daily basis.

Jimmy Centers, who was Governor Terry Branstad’s spokesman, has worked on local, state and presidential campaigns. Centers says he was struck by Trump’s margin of victory in Iowa.

Trump won Iowa by over 13 points. No presidential candidate in the past half century has won the state by a larger margin.

Iowa Democratic Party chair Rita Hart sent a memo to the party’s governing board, saying it’s really hard to envision what is next for Democrats. She is urging Democrats not to throw up their hands and give up – but instead to prepare for the next election in 2026.

story courtesy of Radio Iowa