President Donald Trump will carry Iowa for a second time, where rural voters helped the Republican hold on to the state’s six electoral votes.
The Associated Press called the race in Iowa at 11:30 for Trump. The president leads Biden 53%–45.2%.
Given Biden’s fourth-place finish in the February Iowa Caucuses, Biden at the top of the ticket in the general election seemed far from certain. Since the caucuses, his only visit to the state came Oct. 30 in the form of a drive-in rally at the fairgrounds in Des Moines. Trump visited three times in 2020, including a rally in Des Moines and Dubuque within the last three weeks. Administration officials also have blanketed the state this year.
The final Des Moines Register Iowa Poll, released Saturday, showed him trailing President Trump by 7 percentage points. Election forecasters have viewed the race either as “Lean Republican” or a toss-up.
Trump won Iowa in 2016 — a state that voted twice for Barack Obama — by 9 percentage points.
In the coming days, we will parse through the election data to determine where Biden made gains over Clinton and where Trump fell short compared to his upset win four years ago.
Iowa’s election results are unofficial until ballot canvasses are conducted. County officials must hold canvasses in all 99 counties by Nov. 10. The statewide canvass will be completed by Nov. 30 and then the Iowa Executive Council certifies the results. Absentee ballots postmarked by Nov. 2 and received by noon Nov. 9 will be counted.
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By Elizabeth Meyer
Posted 11/3/20
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